The Valhalla Crystal
by KathrynMills
Summary: This is a Fem!Hiccup Genderbend fic, which takes place a year after the Tv series. The Valhalla crystal is said to give a person the power of the gods, what happens when Hicca and her friends discover it? Rated M for later chapters, I'll put a warning above. Enjoy :)
1. Chapter 1

**First time ever writing a fan fic, but I finally thought of a good story :) Hiccup is female in this, all other characters are the same. This takes place a year after the end of the Tv series, Alvin is living on Berk and Dagur is still Deranged, I hope to make this a multi-chapter thing if it's good, so let me know what you think :) Enjoy**

The Valhalla Crystal

Chapter 1: The Crystal

A power surge.

That's really the only way to describe it.

As soon as Hicca touched the glowing gem, a spark shot from the tips of her fingers, through her spine, to the very tips of her toe nails and through every single strand of her long hair. As soon as she made contact with the Valhalla Crystal her mind broke. She hadn't really been thinking at the time, just that she absolutely could not allow Dagur to steal the power away for himself.

It was no secret that the Vikings of Berk had recently recaptured some of their old artefacts from the Berserker tribe, and it was among these old treasures that Hicca had come across the map of Old Chief Hiccup the Second.

Her friends instantly gathered around her in interest, their excitement peaked as their eyes gazed over the detailed sketches and riddles on the parchment. They then realised what the map was leading them to, The Valhalla Crystal. The legends said that whoever comes into contact with the crystal can command the power of the gods, in the hands of someone like Dagur the Deranged, Chief of the Berserker Tribe, it would surely mean nothing but death and destruction for all. As soon as Chief Stoick realised what the treasure was, he sent the team of Dragon Riders on a mission to find it.

It had taken the team almost the entire day to decipher the clues and follow the map. Actually it was Hicca and Fishlegs who had decoded the clues, Astrid's ideas were good but a little too straight forward, Snotlout's ideas weren't helpful at all, and the twins... well... they were being themselves.

Eventually they found the cave entrance in the forest. The entrance itself was wide but as the passageway sloped under the mountain it had started to narrow drastically, it soon became clear to the gang that the dragons wouldn't be able to accompany them any further.

The team split up. Tuffnut, Ruffnut and Fishlegs stayed behind to watch the dragons, while Astrid, Hicca and Snotlout travelled further into the chasm. At first it seemed like the only thing they'd find in the tunnel would be darkness, but thankfully a little way later a small steam of light made itself visible, as they moved closer, they found they're goal. The tunnel opened into a large chamber, the walls seemed man-made allowing old runes and images to line the walls, if it weren't for their current situation they would have taken the time to admire the space around them further. The ceiling stretched upwards where some of stones from the roof had broken away, the streams of sunlight that leaked through fell onto the alter in the centre of the room. There were 2 sets of steps and then a grand looking podium, and on top of the podium, was the crystal.

It was about the size and shape of a chickens' egg, but the colour was like nothing they'd ever seen before. It was as if the very night sky and stars were encapsulated in the gem, the shifting deep blues and purples mixed and spread as the constellations danced on its surface. It was a beautiful artefact, but unfortunately they had not come to admire it, they had come to destroy it. Under no circumstances could they allow its power to fall into the wrong hands, even the slow minded Snotlout understood that, and he offered his hammer and brute strength to the task.

It was then that the situation took a turn, Dagur's soldiers swept in and ambushed them from behind. The riders realised with dread that they had lead him straight to the crystal, Dagur may have been deranged but he was also cunning. His Berserker soldiers surrounded the three as Dagur stepped forward in all his Berserker chef glory, "Well done, Hicca, I knew you could do it." He stepped closed and gave Hicca a condescending pat on the head, "You're the weakest Viking in the whole archipelago, but your brain does seem to have some uses." As he stepped forward, his soldiers threw something towards the team, Hicca, Astrid and Snotlout realised with dread that it was the tied and gagged forms of Fishlegs, Tuffnut and Ruffnut.

Hicca hadn't been expecting a fight, so she didn't have her shield with her, Snotlout tightened his grip on his hammer as Astrid grabbed her battle axe and aimed it at Dagur, "What have you done to our dragons, Dagur?"

Dagur turned he attention from Hicca to the taller, blond hair fighter, a sickening smirk growing on his face. "Oh, don't worry about them, I don't have a reason to kill them yet. I'll save them for a little while longer, at least until I have the power to crush them with my bare hands. You should count yourselves lucky, I'm allowing you mortals to witness the birth of my god-like powers."

It all clicked in Hicca's mind at that moment. Dagur must have found the map in amongst the other artefacts, but since he was unable to test it on the island of Berk himself, he allowed it to be taken back by the Hooligan tribe. He had counted on Hicca and her friends finding the crystal and then he could swoop in and take it from them, and that's exactly what had happened. As Dagur approached the central podium, he began his long winded gloat about how generous they'd been in leading him to the gem, and how if he were a nicer person he may have shown them mercy. "But honestly," he continued, "after all the defeats you've handed me, you're island will be the first one I'll sink."

Hicca stood frozen as Dagur's soldiers started apprehending her friends, Astrid and Snotlout had their weapons ripped away and were bound and gagged along with the others. How could she have been so stupid? She should have known Dagur would follow them, it was just like him to let others do his dirty work and then take all the glory. All he wanted was power and complete control, no matter what or who stood in his way. She desperately tried to think of a plan, 'Think of something, anything! We can't let him get that power, but the dragons aren't here and I don't have my shield.' Hicca was screaming at herself, she was starting to panic, 'I have to do something! Do something!'

As her friends were shoved against the wall, one of the soldiers turned his attention to her, "Hey girly, get a move on!" He reached out to grab her arm, intending to throw her with the others. But his touch woke her from her trance, before anyone realised it Hicca had jolted forward, her speed and agility allowed her to easily slip past the heavy and slow soldiers. Even Dagur was so preoccupied with his still ongoing speech, he only noticed her when she rushed past him and ran up the steps towards the podium. He reached out to grab her, but it was too late.

He could only watch in horror as she reached out... and grasped the glowing gem.

The shockwave that erupted from the podium sent Dagur flying back, he collided with the stone wall, his helmet making a loud clang, he slid to the ground badly shaken. Hicca's friends and the soldiers watched in a mix of awe and horror as the podium where Hicca once stood was now ablaze with a powerful energy, all unaware if Hicca was even alive still. The form of the energy seemed to constantly shift from looking like fire, to falling snow, to a torrent of water. And the colours changed even more violently. From bright white, to pitch black, deep scarlet, shining green, vibrant blue, pulsating purple and colours that they couldn't even name. All of these were swirling around the altar where Hicca stood a few seconds ago.

Inside the vortex of energy, Hicca was frozen in place. She felt blazing heat one second and biting cold the next, blinded by light and suddenly thrown into deep darkness. All the while she could feel an entity merging with her own, the flow of power engulfed her. Then she blacked out.

In reality, this whole process only lasted a few seconds, and then it was gone. The scrawny little girl was no longer there, on the altar where Hicca had been standing now stood a beautiful older woman. Hicca's waist length auburn hair had changed to shocking white and now reached her knees with blue ribbons woven into it. Her fur vest was gone and her simple green tunic was now pale blue and seemed to be made of the softest silk and hugger tightly to her... well curved figure. Her legs and arms were now free from fabric and instead were encased by shining ebony armour encrusted with fine jewels. Hanging from her waist by a thick leather belt were two impressive looking long swords. Her vastly different appearance made the others question whether the woman in front of them was still Hicca at all, or was it someone else entirely.

Even more impressive than her appearance, was the power that seemed to seep out of her. It felt like the kind of power that made you want to avoid eye contact or hideaway entirely. It soon became clear that her armour was completely unnecessary, her outward appearance and the way she held herself was even more intimidating than the strongest soldier carrying their greatest weapon. Then her eyes snapped open to reveal pure glowing white with flecks of light blue. The soldiers immediately took a few steps back out of fear, even Dagur gulped nervously.

Standing before them was no longer a weak little girl, in front of them was a warrior infused with the powers of the gods.

The woman's glowing eyes moving slowly over the other souls in the room, all the soldiers who felt her glare held their weapons at the ready. Dagur slowly rose from the ground where he'd been flung, this wasn't supposed to happen. That power was supposed to be his and that weak little girl was supposed to be trembling before him as he controlled the god powers. His fury only grew as Hicca's empty eyes fell on him, the endless white pools held no emotion at all, simply observing, but to Dagur it seemed as if she was gloating.

"Well don't just stand there you useless dogs, shoot her!" Dagur roared at his men. They quickly jumped to attention and grabbed their crossbows to take aim.

But she was gone, vanished the second they took their eyes off her.

Sudden there was a sound of shock and pain. The others turned to see one of the soldiers crumpling on the ground, Hicca now standing right beside his prone form, her hand curled into a tight fist. In that split second she had rushed across the cave and punched him so hard that he had lost consciousness, if the other soldier weren't scared of her before they certainly were now. Hicca slowly turned to the other soldiers and gently laid her hand on one of her swords. But the soldiers didn't wait for her to draw it, they all turned and ran as fast as they could out of the cave.

If the other riders had not been gagged, they probably would have been laughing and cheering with joy as the soldiers ran away with their tails between their legs. But that feeling faded when the white haired woman turned towards them. The hand on her sword tightened as she slowly pulled the blade free, its sharp metal glinting in the streams of light coming from the ceiling as she began making her way towards Snotlout. The closer she got the more Snotlouts' eyes widened, was Hicca about to kill him? Sure they'd had their share of family arguments, and yes he had teased and tormented Hicca for the better part of their childhood, but hadn't they put all of that behind them? The closer she got the more Snotlout shuddered, maybe this was finally it... maybe after so many years of her cousins bullying, Hicca was finally going to exact her revenge.

She lifted her sword high above her head and brought it down with lightning speed, the others turned away not wanting to see the outcome.

When the pain never came, Snotlout slowly opened his eyes. When he saw his ropes lying cut at his sides, a wave of relief flowed through him and the others. Without needing to be asked Snotlout pulled the gag from his mouth and quickly scampered over to the others and started undoing their ropes.

"Are you okay? I thought she was going to kill you." Tuffnut said jokingly as Snotlout untied him. But in truth he had also been worried about Hicca exacting revenge, he and his twin sister had often assisted Snotlout in his teasing of the young heiress.

"Yeah, I did too" Snotlout said as he undid their ropes.

As the other riders were untied and began to rise from the cold floor there was suddenly a whizzing sound through the air, Hicca's hand shot up to capture an arrow aimed directly at her head. She slowly turned to see Dagur quickly reloading another arrow.

"Nice trick," He commented picking up one of his soldiers discarded crossbows. He then pointed both at the white haired Hicca, "Let's see if you can do it again." He pulled the triggers and sent two arrows streaming towards Hicca.

But Hicca was faster now, she dropped the first arrow and swept her hand across the air in front of her. There was a flash of crystal blue light and the arrows landed with a clunk at her feet, both now frozen in blocks of ice.

But Hicca didn't stop there, she raised one armour clad foot and stamped it down in front of her. Ice shot across the ground and encircled Dagur's feet. With Dagur now frozen in place Hicca started walking towards him. As she did her expression became harder, she no longer looked calm and controlled, she now looked angry. When she was only a foot away from a still struggling Dagur, her hand shot out and grasped the collar of his dark tunic. She then lifted him off the ground so that his feet were freed from the ice and now dangled helplessly. She glared at him with cold eyes, and Dagur stared back with wide and genuinely frightened ones. The other riders waiting with baited breath, what was Hicca about to do?

Then she spoke, her voice not sounding like her own. Hicca's normal voice was soft and slightly nervous, but it was also the kind of voices that could make you relaxed and calm. But the voice that flowed from the paler lips was cold and commanding and was followed through with an undertone of whispers. "Leave this island and never return."

With the threatening tone and air of power they held only those simple words were needed. Dagur whole body shook and he nodded dumbly. Then with the strength of several soldier, Hicca hurled him across the cavern to the entrance. He skidded for a bit before staggering to his feet and running out of the tunnel, hopefully all the way back to his own island.

It was now just them in the cave. After watching Dagur flee, the others turned towards Hicca, wondering what would happen next. The white haired Hicca sheathed her sword and turn towards the others, her expression now calm again, she held their gaze for a little while before she closed her eyes. There was another flash of light around the woman, less flashy than before and lasting half as long. When the lights stopped swirling the real Hicca stood in its place, her eyes wide and her body ridged for a second longer before then going went limp and collapsed to the ground. Her friends snapped out of their shock and rushed over to her, all relieved that the real Hicca was back. At least for now.

/LINE BREAK/

Outside the cave entrance, the dragons were worried for their riders.

The Berserker guards had come from nowhere, and had muzzled the dragons with bolas, and bound them with strong ropes. Fishlegs and the twins were quickly taken down by the stronger soldiers and were bound and gagged. Dagur barely spared them a glance as he strolled up to the powerful Night Fury, now bound at his feet. He smirked and gave the dragon a quick kick.

Toothless barely flinched and just continued to growl at Dagur through his muzzle. "Not so tough now are you? I can't wait to have you skinned alive, but first I need to have a word with your little rider." As Toothless gave a slight shudder Dagur just laughed loudly and sauntered down the tunnel, some of his soldiers followed him dragging the other riders behind them.

That had been a while ago. The dragons could only lie there and struggle to get free. They blamed themselves for being taken by surprised and overwhelmed, but Toothless remained calm. He had to think of a plan, he had to keep Hicca safe from that mad-man and anyone else who wanted to harm her. He looked over to the others, they were all pulling at their ropes but with their teeth and claws bound there wasn't much they could do. But maybe the ropes could be burned off. Toothless looked over to Hookfang, the large Nightmare was also pulling at his binds but also looked towards the tunnel ever few seconds. He was worried for his rider.

Despite the way he acted towards Snotlout, the two did have a good relationship. They trusted each other and Hookfang would do anything for his rider, even if the boy needed to be reminded of his manners every now and then. But right now Hookfang couldn't ignite himself, he could only do so when he was fighting or enraged, but right now he was too worried. Toothless came to a conclusion, the only way to make the other dragon focus was to get him angry. Hopefully he'd forgive Toothless later. Suddenly a group of soldiers came running out of the cave entrance, fear written across their faces as they headed away from the mountain and towards the sea. Toothless seized the opportunity and rolled himself towards Hookfang, his tail coming up as he suddenly slapped the Nightmare across the snout.

Needless to say Hookfang was angered by the sudden attack. He growled menacingly and set himself alight, the ropes sizzled and felt to the ground. Hookfang realised what had just happened and gave a small nod to Toothless, then he turned towards the soldiers. The humans stood frozen for a moment, but then Hookfang reared back to his full height and allowed the flames to engulf his entire body, he then lunged forward with a mighty roar. The soldiers scatter like scarred mice, Hookfang gave a satisfied nod and turned to the others.

After biting through the other ropes, the dragons huddled together and started thinking about their next move. They still couldn't get through the tunnel, but they had to get to their humans, they'd wasted enough time already. Stormfly suddenly started squawking at the others, Barf, Belch, Hookfang and Toothless turned to see her gesturing with her speckled wings. A few feet away they could see Meatlugs bulbous form moving slowly but surely around the side of the mountain, her nose to the ground sniffing furiously like a bloodhound desperate to find its goal. In Meatlugs' case, her goal was Fishlegs. The two had such a strong relationship that for her, finding Fishlegs would be like finding scales on a dragon. The others followed, hoping to find their own riders as well.

They eventually arrived at an odd outcrop of stones just to the side of the mountain. In amongst the outcrops was a series of holes, each one no bigger than a rabbits' hole, as if something had burrowed out from bellow. Meatlug sniffed around one of the holes, before she started digging furiously with her front legs, Stormfly also helped and started snatching at the ground with her talons, and soon the holes collapsed and a much larger hole opened. It was soon big enough to allow even a fully grown Nightmare into the large chamber below. Then all the dragons could smell it. Their humans were inside, the right under them in the chamber bellow. Without a second though, the five dragons dived in.

**So yeah, what do you think? Dagur is definitely my favourite villain from the series, hopefully he'll be back in later chapters. Always looking for feedback, so creative criticism is welcome :) Also sorry if it takes me a while to update, or if there are mistakes, my grammar's not the best and I'm still getting to grips with this website**


	2. Chapter 2

**So here it is, Chapter 2 :) Enjoy**

The Valhalla Crystal

Chapter 2: Skadi

When the riders heard the scratching and scrapping from above, they all looked up to see a large cluster of stones falling from the ceiling. At first they all feared that the cave was collapsing in on them, but then they were all relieved to see their dragons clawing their way in, each one gliding down to its respective rider.

Snotlout immediately jumped onto Hookfangs' face in glee before collecting himself and scolding his dragon for acting so mushy.

The twins ran forward to their two headed dragon, each twin embracing one head before they swapped and did the same to the other head.

While Fishlegs and Meatlug seemed to crash into each other before rolling a hugging tightly.

After everything they had experienced today, they were all glad to know that their dragons were safe and that they could all go back home.

Astrid stayed with Hicca as Toothless and Stormfly landed and ran towards them, Astrid petted her dragons' beak caringly before turning back to Hicca, Toothless cooing worriedly as he gently pressed his head against his riders back. "She'll be fine Toothless," Astrid reassured the large dragon. "But we need to get her back to the village." Toothless nodded and lowered his body closer to the ground, Astrid carefully mounting him and making sure Hicca was secure behind her. Toothless couldn't fly on his own, and having Hicca close also helped settle his nerves.

"Everyone mount up, we need to get back to the village." Astrid yelled to the others, taking up her role as Hiccas' second in command. Normally Snotlout and the twins would voice their snide comments or objections, but this time none of them said anything.

/LINE BREAK/

The flight back to the village was quite, none of them really wanting to talk about what had happened, but at the same time they knew it was necessary.

"Okay," Exclaimed Snotlout, breaking the silence. "If no one else is going to say anything I will. Did we all see what happened in there?"

Ruffnut spoke up, "You mean Hicca grabbed the crystal from Dagur and turning into a Goddess? Or was it just me who saw that?"

"I saw it too," Tuffnut jumped in. "And she looked really hot," needless to say he receiving a punch to the gut from Ruffnut.

"She didn't just turn into a goddess though, she was actually able to wield a god's powers. Which was both amazing and t-terrifying," Fishlegs stuttered as he remembered the events.

Astrid stayed quiet as her friends tried to piece together what had happened. It seemed that she was handling this better than them. Fishlegs and Snotlout were somewhat scared, while Hicca's cousin also sounded a little jealous. Meanwhile the twins didn't seem to mind the situation, Ruffnut just wanted to see more destruction, and it sounded like Tuffnut really wanted to see Hicca in her new form again.

Astrid looked over her soldier, Hicca's prone form was still leaning heavily against her back. She'd used the ropes they'd been tied with to tie Hicca against her back so she wouldn't fall off. Hicca's auburn hair was no longer tied in its usual ponytail and was billowing behind her, she looked so much younger than the rest of the riders right now. Every since the dragons became part of their daily lives, the other Berk teens had started viewing Hicca differently, Ruffnut and Astrid in particular had started treating Hicca almost as if she was a younger sister to them. Hicca was actually the same age as Snotlout and Astrid, and older than Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut.

But right at this moment, Hicca needed someone to take care of her, even though she hated being coddled. Astrid also felt a responsibility to Hicca as her second in command, she just knew she would be the one to tell Hicca's father about everything that had happened. She'd have to tell him that his daughter was now host to a god.

/LINE BREAK/

Everything was silent for the moment.

Everyone crammed into the Haddock households' main room, Hicca resting in her room upstairs with Toothless watching guard. The dragon riders sat at the large table, chief Stoick pacing alongside them, Gobber standing close by and Alvin leaning against the wall looking bored. Alvin was the only person who didn't really have a reason to be there, in fact it was only a year ago when he himself had tried to kidnap Hicca and force her to train dragons for him. But now with his banishment from Berk somewhat dissolved, he was allowed in the village again. However, even after a year, he still got the odd glare from some of the older villagers, especially those who knew the reason for his banishment. He now made himself useful as Stoicks assistant, the title was most degrading for him, and it was merely an excuse for Stoick himself to keep an eye on him.

Stoick gave a sigh and stopped his pacing before he turned back to the other riders, "Okay" he said tiredly. "Tell me again, just so I know for sure I'm not going batty."

"We found the Valhalla Crystal in a cave just under the mountain, but Dagur found us and was about to take the crystal for himself," Fishlegs started nervously.

"But Hicca grabbed the crystal before he could," Astrid continued.

"She transformed into the really awesome looking goddess," Tuffnut said excitedly before Ruffnut finished the story.

"Then she kick Dagur's ass and sent him and his men running," the twins high fived as they remembered the fight.

Stoick slumped heavily in his chair with a sigh. This was not supposed to happen. The crystal had been hidden away by his ancestors, and now that they found it they were supposed to destroy it. Nothing good ever came from that gem. He remembered hearing stories from when his great grandfather, Grimbeard the Ghastly had been the vessel for the crystal, all the fights, the bloodshed and the loss he had to deal with until the day he died. Dying of old age was bad enough for a Viking, but there was nothing anyone could do about it, the god inside of him wouldn't allow him to be killed in battle. On his deathbed he had ordered his son, Hiccup the second, to hide the crystal away where no one would ever find it.

But when Hicca discovered the map, Stoick realised that while the crystal was still around, they would never be free from its threat. It had to be destroyed.

But now Hicca had become the new vessel for one of the gods. Stoick cursed his own bloodline and heritage, but what's done is done and now they had to deal with it. Dagur knew Hicca had the crystal so it's likely the other tribes would know soon as well. They had to work fast.

"Alright then," he announced after his long silence. "Hicca is the new vessel for the Valhalla Crystal, the first thing we need to do if find out which god or goddess has possessed her."

Stoick walked over to one of the selves and pulled out a heavy book, the Book of Norse Mythology. Within its pages were the stories of all the Norse Gods or Goddess they were aware of. He placed the book on the table as the others gathered round. "We need to narrow down the search, I need you kids to tell me anything you remember about how Hicca looked and acted while she was in that other form."

"Well she was definitely female."

"She had long white hair."

"And she carried two swords."

"Her amore was black, and her dress and ribbons were light blue."

"She was really strong and fast, she took out one of Dagurs' soldiers with a single punch."

"Her posture was very strong, she definitely seemed like someone in charge."

As they listed off all the details they could remember, Stoick listened and rummaged back and forth through the book trying to find a goddess who fitted the description. But nothing seemed to fit exactly. Gobber and Alvin also tried to make helpful suggestions.

"It could be Frigga."

"I doubt it'd be someone so well known, but she could be Clotho or one of the other Nords."

"I doubt it, none of em' were ever known t' carry swords," Alvin disagreed in his broken accent.

Stoick sighed again and turned back to the teens, "Is there anything else you remember?"

There was a long pause.

Suddenly Fishlegs jumped up, "Ice!" He suddenly exclaimed.

"Ice?" The three adults look at him in confusion.

"She had powers over ice, she froze two of Dagur's arrows mid flight."

Astrid also rose, "That's right!" She said excitedly, "She used ice to freeze Dagur in place too, her goddess must have something to do with ice or snow-"

"Or winter!" Gobber interrupted snapping his fingers with a knowing look. He pulled the book in front of him and hurriedly flicked through the pages, when he found what he was looking for he slid the book into the centre for everyone to see.

On the page in front of them was a detailed drawing of a beautiful woman. She stood proud and strong on top of a snowy mountain, clad in armour with two swords and long white hair blowing in the wind. The other riders recognised her instantly. It looked exactly like the goddess they'd seen Hicca transform into.

"That's definitely her, but who is she?" Snotlout asked.

"Skadi," Gobber stated confidently.

"Skadi?" The teens questioned.

"Ah' remember 'er," Alvin commented. "She's t' Goddess of Winter"

"Ay', she was a brave and beautiful warrior, she could control the ice and snow and lived high in the mountains. And now she's possessed Hicca," Gobber stated.

"Well that doesn't sound too bad," Ruffnut said, glad that they weren't dealing with one of the more terrifying gods.

"Ah' wasn't finished yet lassie," Gobber said seriously. "She may not have been one of the main goddesses, but Skadi is very powerful. She's able t' use all weapons o' war, and was also named the 'Goddess of Hunting'. She was also the one responsible for hanging a deadly serpent above Loki when e' was imprisoned, allowing it t' drip its venom onto is' face for eternity. She's a terrifying and brutal woman when it comes t' revenge, and Ah' don't think she's going t' like being bound to a human. We could be in real danger here if she goes against us."

"But that won't happen," Astrid spoke up. "It's this goddesses job to protect Hicca, she'll be able to keep her under control, right?"

There wasn't an answer. None of the adults knew for sure what the goddess was going to do, they all just looked at each other in worry.

Suddenly there was a thumping upstairs, everyone jumped slightly and looked up at the ceiling.

"Toothless, calm down!" Hiccas' high pitched voice sounded from upstairs followed by a deep and happy gurgle.

"Sounds like she's up," Alvin commented as he took a step away from the stairs. In the year he'd been allowed to wonder around the island, there was one specific thing he'd picked up on. Hicca had two fathers.

Sure enough, both Stoick and Gobber started racing up the stairs to check on their little girl.

**Time for a little Norse History :) When Skadi's father, Thiazi, was accidently killed by some of the other gods, Skadi rode into Asgard in search of vengeance. As a sign of apology and goodwill, they allowed her to choose a husband from among the gods, Skadi agreed since she was in love with Baldr, the most handsome of the gods. However, she could only choose her husband based on his feet, the feet she chose turned out to belong to Njord, the god of the sea winds. Unfortunately, their marriage was not a happy one, mostly because they two lived in such different places, Njord lived near the ocean and Skadi lived high in the mountains, when they separated Skadi went on to marry Odin.**

**Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, if you have any questions or comments please let me know, I'm always looking for feedback :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 :) This chapter is going to be mostly be Hicca's point of view on the situation so far, hope you like it**

The Valhalla Crystal

Chapter 3: Conversations

When Stoick and Gobber arrived upstairs they were relieved to see Hicca sitting up in bed, looking perfectly safe and well as she scratched Toothless under the chin. The large ebony dragon continued making happy gurgling noises.

"Hicca, are you alright? How are you feeling?" Stoick step forward and kneeled beside her bed, placing his large hand on his daughter's shoulder.

"I'm fine. Sorry if I worried you."

"Ay, you did. But it's not the first time, and I doubt it'll be the last," Gobber chuckled. Hicca also gave a small giggle. Gobber's laugh settled and his face changed to look more serious as he took a step closer. "Lassie, you remember what happed, right?"

Hicca's laughter also stopped and her head dropped slightly, "I do... the crystal's now inside me, isn't it?"

"That seems to be the case given that you transformed into a goddess right in front of your friends." Stoick said calmly.

"A goddess? Who?" Hicca asked nervously.

"Skadi," Stoick said simply. "She's the-"

"Goddess of Winter and the Hunt," Hicca interrupted, her voice monotone and holding no emotion. Hicca blinked and snapped out of her daze. She looked at her father and mentor who both looked at her with concern and confusion, even Toothless took a step back at his rider's unfamiliar voice. Hicca turned away slightly embarrassed and scared at her own voice, "S-She told me."

Gobber seemed to understand. He walked over to Hicca and placed a comforting hand on Hicca's head, "Don't worry about it lassie. The two of yer' share a bond now, it makes sense that you'd be able t' communicate with each other."

Hicca smiled, knowing that Gobber was trying to comfort her. "I'm not sure if it is actual communication," she said. "I just know things about her without needing to ask, she knows about me the same way. That's how she knew to attack Dagur and his men but not Astrid and the others."

"Still, at least you have a connection. Just wait, it may come in handy," Gobber laughed deeply. Just the sound of his deep bellowing laugh soon had Hicca laughing as well. Stoick stood a little behind the laughing pair, this was one of those moments where he was both thankful and jealous of his friend.

He and Gobber had been friends for many years, so at the birth of his first child it was no surprise that Gobber was his first choice as godfather. As Hicca had grown, she had opened up to Gobber more and had also picked up on some of his mannerisms, including his sarcasm. Admittedly Stoick had been a little jealous, but he understood that there were something's that Hicca couldn't talk to him about. Their relationship as father and daughter had been very strained in the past, especially after the disappearance of Valka. Gobber had been there when Stoick couldn't, and he was happy that Hicca had someone around who could make her smile again.

Hicca's giggling was soon interrupted by a yawn, it was then that the three realised just how late it had gotten. Gobber had said goodnight before going downstairs to tell the others that Hicca was alright, and that she would be at Dragon training tomorrow. Once everyone had left, Toothless made himself comfortable on his rock slab, Stoick made sure Hicca was comfortable as well before blowing out her candle and retiring to bed himself.

/LINE BREAK/

Although Hicca did feel tired she just couldn't sleep. She had already taken off her prosthetic to try and get more comfortable, it felt weird without anything below her right knee, but the lack of cold steel against her leg was definitely what she needed right now. She rolled over to her side and glanced at Toothless through the darkness, his form slowly rising and falling with even breaths. Every now and then he would twitch and gurgle with a dopy grin on his face, possibly dreaming about catching fish. Hicca rolled on to her back and stared at the ceiling, she didn't know what to think about today.

It was definitely real, no doubt about that. There was no way she or her friends had imagined it all. Even though she couldn't remember much after blacking out, the images and words that flowed into her head gave her enough information. The goddess Skadi had appeared in front of her and with a single look she had demanded that Hicca stand aside and let her take control, whether she meant take over her body on take control of the fight itself, Hicca wasn't sure, maybe both. It was almost like she had been watching the fight from afar, observing in awe as Skadi displayed power and control without lifting a finger or uttering a word. Her air of dominance and confident was something Hicca had never seen before, not even in her own father.

To be honest, she was jealous. Over the last year, Hicca had started taking lessons from her father about the duties and responsibilities of being chief, she wanted to make him proud and she wanted to do the best possible for her people and her friends. But something always troubled her. Her father had faith in her, so did everyone else in the village. They all knew that Hicca was intelligent, brave and kind, some even thought she was beautiful as well. But... she was still missing something.

Strength.

Physical strength was obviously not her forte, but there was also the kind of strength that Astrid had, that every Viking had. A booming voice that could shake mountains, a stance that stood tall and couldn't be moved, and the kind of look that commanded respect but at the same time it made you feel safe and protected. Hicca didn't have any those qualities. Her voice was quiet, her posture was small and her eyes showed innocence not control. She wasn't a normal Viking. She'd always known that. But now she was sharing her body with a Viking goddess, and it made her feel like a mouse in comparison.

That night, Hicca fell into a fitful sleep.

/LINE BREAK/

It was dark.

Not the normal darkness of a simple room with no light.

The space around her felt as if it had never been blessed with light, it was just an empty void.

She took a step forward. As her foot hit the ground, the floor shattered upwards reliving an intense blue light. When she eventually pulled her arms away from shielding her face, she found herself in a temple. It was a tall and immaculate temple with marble walls and beautiful woven tapestries hanging from the ceiling. Hicca turned in place to admire the room around her, this was obviously a dream so she took her time to take in the scenery. Hicca also started to notice ghostly shapes all around her. The shapes slowly became clearer and took the form of people, men and women all clad in armour and grasping magnificent weapons.

As they chatted silently amongst themselves, it began to dawn on Hicca that these people around her just might be Gods and Goddesses. It would make sense. The connection she'd formed with Skadi must have open other pathways in her head, allowing her dreams to take hold, was she dreaming of Skadi's past?

As the thought struck her, Hicca heard a fierce galloping from behind. She turned to see a horse running through the throngs of people who were desperately trying to get out of the way. As the horse approached Hicca at the centre of the room, it slowed to a trot before stopping completely. The horse was a beautiful white with shades of crystal blue in its mane and tail, its armour was a complete contrast with its pitch black shine. Hicca's eyes slowly followed the body of the horse until they finally rested on the rider, Hicca was not surprised to see Skadi in the saddle of the white steed. But what did surprise her was the look of murder on her face, her ice eyes ablaze with fury.

From still atop the horse Skadi called out to the entire room. "I am Skadi, goddess of winter, and I am here for Odin and his fellow gods!" The venom in her silk voice making Hicca wince.

"I am Odin, what has brought you to Asgard?" Hicca heard the deep voice behind her. She didn't dare look round. She did not feel it was right of her to look upon Odin himself, even if this was a dream, so she kept her eyes fixed on Skadi.

Said goddess dismounted and drew one of her swords. A few people closest to the commotion took a step back, while others readied their own weapons ready. "I am here for revenge for my father, and I want to know why he had to die! If you can't give me a good enough answer, so help me I'll take your heads back to my mountain with me!"

The shear hatred in her words was deafening. Hicca truly felt scared of the woman in front of her. Then the word around Hicca began to fade as a series of loud thumping noises sounded, distant at first then slowly becoming clearer as Hicca awoke from her slumber.

/LINE BREAK/

Oddly enough, the pounding sound was rather comforting. Hicca soon realised why. Despite what had happened yesterday, Toothless was up there bouncing on the roof demanding to go flying just like any other day. That's exactly what she needed right now, some normality.

She yanked her blankets off and reached over the side of her bed to strap on her prosthetic. She finished strapping it on and rushed over to her window, not wanting her dragon to knock any more tiles off the roof. She pushed open the shutters and leaned out slightly so that she could see onto the roof. Sure enough, Toothless was looking down at her with wide exited eyes.

"I'm up, I'm up. Just give me a minute to get ready, okay bud?"

Toothless gurgled happily and jumped down from the roof. He sat on his haunches in front of the front door and waited patiently for her. Hicca quickly brushed her hair and tied it back in a high ponytail, she then changed into her usual green tunic and fur vest before quietly making her way down stairs. Her dad was usually an early riser, but that didn't mean he enjoyed being woken up by his daughter and her excitable dragon. She grabbed an apple from the kitchen and headed out.

Soon enough the two were flying high in the clouds. Hicca leaned back and took a deep breath, the cool air seemed to wake her up and calm her down all at once. She adored flying. When she and Toothless were connected like this they were a truly formidable force, they could float across the clouds gracefully and then suddenly crash down in a fury of fire and thunder in the midst of battle.

But then her thoughts pulled her back to reality. Thinking of battles made her think of Dagur, and that brought back all of the events from yesterday. And along with it, came all of her worries from the previous night.

Toothless noticed his rider had been quiet for a while. He looked over his shoulder to see the worried look on her face, he then gave his body a gently but firm shake, as if telling her to stop her worrying and get back in the moment. Hicca's eyes snapped to Toothless as he gave her a reassuring gummy grin, Hicca laughed slightly and patted her dragons head in thanks.

"I'm okay boy. So, are you ready?" Toothless roared happily indicating he was. Hicca unhooked herself from the saddle and then released her metal foot from his tail controller.

Then... she jumped.

She slowly spun backwards in front of Toothless she then straitened herself out and rocketed towards the ocean below. Toothless wobbled for a second before he also angled down and dived parallel alongside her. The wind whipped past they as they fell for what seemed like hours, then they broke through the layer of clouds and the dense blue of the ocean started to look more ominous. They angled towards each other and reconnected. Hicca hooked herself in and clicked her leg into place. They twirled and skimmed the surface of the water and soared back to Berk, all the while yelling and roaring with joy.

/LINE BREAK/

When the two arrived at the academy they were surprised to see the others already there. Still, at least they could start their lesson now.

"Morning" She called to everyone. She expected the usual wishes of good morning from Astrid and Fishlegs and then almost complete disregard from the others. What she didn't expect was form the two twins to drop whatever argument they were having and race over to her, both skidding to a halt inches from her.

"So have you spoken to the Goddess yet?"

"What's she like?"

"Did you have any weird dreams?"

"Can you shoot ice again?"

"Can you make your eyes glow?"

"Did you dream anything weird last night?"

"Hey I already asked her that!"

"So? Why would she wanna talk to you?"

"Me? I'm not the one smelling like a dragons' dinner!"

"At least I don't look like one!"

As the twins turned their attention to each other, Hicca used the opportunity to sneak around them.

"You okay?" Hicca turned to see Astrid behind her, an amused smile on her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wasn't expecting a bombardment of questions." Hicca replied with a nervous laugh.

"Well what did you think was going to happen? We go on crazy adventures a lot, but what happened yesterday was huge." Astrid explained. Hicca knew she was right, but a small part of her was still hoping for a bit of normality. Just then Hicca noticed Fishlegs peeking out from behind Astrid, looking far more nervous and shaky than usual.

Hicca walk towards him wandering what was wrong, but as she got close Fishlegs quickly turned and tried to look busy. He grabbed the Book of Dragons from Meatlugs' saddlebag and buried his face in its pages. "Fishlegs, are you okay?" Hicca asked with concern.

"Huh? Oh me, yeah fine... nothing going on here, everything's perfectly fine." He answered hurriedly, his eyes darting everywhere except at Hicca. He fumbled over his words and quickly looked back to the book, Hicca doubted he even realized he was holding it upside down.

She frowned and walked forward until she was directly in front of him. "Fishlegs?" she said in a soft but firm tone. "Why won't you look at me?"

"Why? It's just, well... is it okay if I- I mean... am I allowed to?" Fishlegs stuttered, still avoiding her gaze.

Hicca frowned more, "Allowed to? Why wouldn't..." And then she realised. His shifting gaze, the stuttering, wondering if it was okay to even look at her, she had only seen him act this was once before.

When they had been very young, long before they had become friends, on one of the few time Hicca's father had taken her around the village with him. They had been walking for a little while by this point, when they came across a young Fishlegs and his mother, Termagant Ingerman. Hicca liked Terma, she was a large and very sweet woman with a great skill for weaving. The two adults greeted each other and Hicca had also given a polite greeting, Terma had then prompted her son to also say hello. Fishlegs had looked up at his mother worriedly and had whispered and shuddered a polite greeting while looking at his feet, he then turned and ran.

He had the same look on his face now, and he was unable to look up or talk without stuttering. Was it possible? Could Fishlegs be...? Hicca had to know. "Fishlegs?" She asked with a slight hint of worry in her voice. "Are you scared of me?"

Fishlegs' shoulders tensed as he finally made eye contact with the girl in front of him. "No, no, no. It's not that I swear," he reassured her franticly. "I'm not scared of you, I know you. But..." He paused and took a deep breath to calm himself. Neither of them had realised that his commotion had drawn the attention of the other four dragon riders, the twins had even stopped their fighting to join Astrid and Snotlout in listening intently.

"But...?" Hicca encouraged.

"But... I am scared of the other you," Fishlegs admitted quietly.

The silence was deafening. Hicca didn't know what to think. Skadi was not her. She was a completely different person, Skadi wasn't even human. Of course, Snotlout had to go and open his mouth.

"He has a point, you know." The other riders turned to him in surprise, "How do we know you're not going to lose control or something? That other you was terrifying."

"Stop saying that!" Snotlout shut his mouth immediately at Hicca's outburst. It was frustrating to keep hearing her friends say it, there was no 'other her'. "There is no 'other me'. Skadi and I are not the same person and I don't intend on using her or the crystal again. So can we please just forget that yesterday ever happened?" She looked at each of the other teens in turn. The look on their faces was hard to explain. They all seemed concerned, confused, and a little worried all at once.

Hicca sighed. It seemed clear that her friends couldn't just forget what had happened, maybe they just needed some time. Hicca trudged over to Toothless and started leading him away. "Hicca? What about today's lesson?" Astrid asked with unease.

"Let's just take a break today, we'll reschedule for tomorrow." Hicca said, her voice slightly sad as she and Toothless walked out of the arena.

**Just a little tid-bit: Stoick's grandfather and great grandfather, Hiccup the second and Grimbeard the Ghastly, as well as Fishlegs' mother, Termagant Ingerman, are all from the books, though I have changed them slightly to fit my story :) This next chapter might take a while, I'm going to be pretty busy with Uni work, but stick with me, I do not intend to abandon this story ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**4****th**** Chapter's here, lot's of talking in these next few chapters, should answer a few questions :)**

The Valhalla Crystal

Chapter 4: Forge

It wasn't unusual for Hicca to be working at the forge nowadays, she was always there helping out whenever she found the time. But between learning from her father, teaching at the academy and taking care of Toothless, she had a pretty full schedule. But every now and then, Gobber would be working on something and out of the corner of his eye, he'd spot Hicca walk in, take her apron from the hook and set to work at her desk. He always left a little something for her to work on, something that was maybe a little too delicate for his hammy fingers. This particular time someone had wanted an intricate carving for their wife, it was the perfect job for Hicca's artistic talents. Gobber always looked forward to having some company from his apprentice and maybe to catch up, and sometime Hicca just needed someone to listen.

This was one of those times.

When Hicca walked into the forge with Toothless, her eyes were down cast and she didn't say anything to Gobber. She just put on her apron and sat at her desk, Toothless lay underneath the table on a blanket Gobber had laid out for him. Gobber didn't say anything at first, he had years of practice when it came to Hicca's troubles. She never asked for help, maybe it was both a pride thing, or that she never wanted to show how vulnerable she felt, but Gobber had soon picked up on the signals. She was a 16 year old girl after all, he'd seen a lot of insecurities come and go, and he knew there would be more to come.

After a little while of Gobber's hammering and Hicca's carving she let out her fifth sigh. Gobber felt now was the time to ask. He lowered his hammer and pulled a stool to the side of Hicca's desk, Hicca glanced at him and went back to work, she hadn't made much progress in the last hour and a half.

"Do you want t' talk about it?" It was a simple sentence, but it was all Hicca needed to let her walls crumble a little.

"Yeah, do you have a minute?" He gave a nod and she turned to face him fully. "Okay... I was thinking about everything that happed yesterday, and I know I wasn't exactly 'there' whilst Skadi was in control, but I still felt everything. Skadi is a completely different person to me, and I'm not just talking about the whole goddess thing... she is so much stronger, braver, more precise, more in control, and she's more of a leader than I'll ever be."

Gobber watched her, as she spoke she had risen from her chair and started pacing back and forth. "So? You'll keep training and get stronger, become better with weapons, and there's always something new t' learn about dragons."

"But I'm never going to be as good as her."

"Why are you comparing yourself t' a goddess, that's completely unrealistic." Gobber said, still not quite seeing the problem.

"Because everyone else is!" Hicca yelled. "Everyone at the academy kept calling her the 'other me', but she's nothing like me! And despite everything I've done and everything I accomplish in the future, it's never going to be as good as her!"

Gobber sat quietly and let her yell. Now he could see why she was so angry, she just needed to let it all out. She took a few deep breaths and slumped back into her chair. Toothless shuffled towards her almost nervously, he made a deep humming sound at the back of his throat and nudged Hicca's leg with his head. Hicca smiled slightly and patted his head before continuing. "Fishlegs was actually scared of me. I'm worried that from now on, whenever people look at me... all they'll see is her."

There was a pause.

"No chance," Gobber said firmly.

Hicca looked at him oddly, "But she's-" Gobber held up his hand to stop her.

"A goddess, I know. But you said it yourself, she's not you. Of course she's strong, she was born that way. But you... when you were a wee thing, everyone said that you would never amount to anything. Just a hiccup. But look at you now!" He stepped back gesturing to all of her, causing her to blush slightly. "You ended the war between Vikings and dragons, you who first trained dragons t' help us with our daily lives, you changed the way we Vikings think about the world, and let's not forget your inventions."

Hicca gave a small smile as Gobber placed a large but gentle hand on her shoulder. "Hicca, you've became braver, wiser and so much stronger since you were little. You did all that, not some goddess. Your father and I will keep finding out everything we can about the crystal so that we can get rid of it, and when Skadi is gone everyone will remember how amazing you are without her." Hicca blushed harder and looked away in embarrassment as Gobber continued. "You're going to be an amazing chief one day lass, and everyone knows that."

Hicca hugged Gobber tightly, he always knew what to say. He patted the top of her head and pulled away slightly. "If you want my advice, just act like you normally do. You don't want t' use this new power and no one's forcing you to, so just forget about it for now and just give your friends some time. They'll soon realise their mistake."

"Thank you," Hicca said. There was really nothing more to say, but Gobber knew that Hicca was more thankful than she could express, he could tell just be the look on her face.

"Alright, back to work. Once you've finished that engraving, you can give me a hand with those arrow heads over there, okay?" Gobber gestured to a bag of damaged arrows in the corner.

"Sure, no problem."

They both got back to work after that, the air between them now much less tense. They carried on like old times chatting lightly about nothing in particular, all the while Toothless napped under the table, able to rest much easier now that he knew his rider would be alright.

It wasn't till after midday when something surprising happened.

There was a commotion coming from outside the shop, Hicca, Toothless and Gobber all looked out the window to see a rather amusing sight. Astrid was stomping towards the forge with a triumphant look on her face. In each hand she was grasping Fishlegs and Snotlout by the ears and dragging them along, the two boys were hunched over and whimpered whenever Astrid gave them a slight tug. At the back of the group, Tuffnut and Ruffnut were both snickering and looking very amused with the situation.

When the group approached the forge Hicca met them outside. "Guys, what are you all doing here?"

"These two idiots," Astrid started as she glared at the two offenders. "Have something they would like to say to you," she shoved Fishlegs and Snotlout forward.

The two boys looked between Hicca and Astrid nervously as they rubbed their bruised ears, then they stood up straight and looked at their feet. "We're sorry," Snotlout started quietly.

"Yeah, really sorry," Fishlegs said sounding more sincere. Hicca was surprised and soon realised that Astrid must have 'spoken' to the two of them after she left.

"Astrid pointed out to us that what we said may have... upset you," Snotlout continued also starting to sound guilty.

Tuffnut then cleared his throat behind them. Hicca looked over to him and his sister, they were both shuffling a little also looking guilty. "Um... we're... you know, we're sorry too."

"We shouldn't have jumped you this morning, sorry Hic." Ruffnut said sweetly, she normally only let her soft side show when she was serious.

Hicca looked at all of her friends. It was amazing how even after everything they've been through together, they could still surprise her. "Thanks guys, this is really sweet of you," she smiled causing most of the others to blush.

"So... We cool?" Fishlegs asked a lot less nervously.

"Yes, we're cool," Hicca confirmed with a small smile. "And I understand. Skadi is pretty scary, and it was stupid of me to think you'd all just be acting as if nothing happened. But can we just not talk about it for a while?"

Her friends all agreed. Fishlegs was so relieved that they'd managed to resolve the situation that he ran over and hugged Hicca tightly, lifting her off the ground in the process. Ruffnut also hugged Hicca allowing more of her secret sweet side through.

"Well," said Hicca once she was finally let go. "There is one problem though."

Snotlout immediately looked worried, "What? What is it?"

Hicca stepped back and folded her arms, "Your weapons, let me see them." She said in a motherly tone, she could practically hear Gobber and Toothless snickering behind her.

Slowly the other teens pulled out their weapons. Sure enough, just as Hicca expected, all of their weapons needed maintenance. Snotlout's hammer, Astrid's axe, Fishlegs' dagger, and Ruffnut and Tuffnut's spears.

"I knew it," she said with a sigh. "Seriously, when was the last time you all came for a tune up?"

They looked at each other, all relieved but also guilty that they hadn't been taking better care of their weapons, especially when they spend most of their time around a trained blacksmith. It was only Gobber who realised Hicca had only brought up their weapons as an excuse for the others to hang around for a little longer. Hicca had the others put their weapons on the table and set to work. Astrid's axe and Fishlegs' dagger only needed sharpening, the wood for Ruff and Tuff's spears needed replacing, and Snotlout's hammer needed a new handle and the head needed filing to fix its balance.

Hicca was able to finish by the end of the day. All the while her friends kept her company, telling her about all the new things they'd learnt about they're dragons and what they could do in dragon training tomorrow. Or in the twin's case, talking about everything they could blow up, and being interrupted by Hicca every few minutes telling them not to touch something.

/LINE BREAK/

Unfortunately, Hicca couldn't keep acting like everything was normal. When she got home that night her father wanted to talk with her.

"Do you know how to summon Skadi?" He asked somewhat out of the blue.

"Yeah, I just need to ask her for help," Hicca answered truthfully.

She actually hated that fact. She didn't like asking for help normal, but asking for help from a goddess... it just seemed wrong. "Why do you ask?"

"I want to talk to her," Stoick said simply, as if he was talking about an ordinary person instead of a goddess. Had they not been sitting at the table its possible Hicca would have stumbled at such a request.

"T-Talk... to Skadi?" She stuttered, just to make sure she's heard her father correctly. Even Toothless's ears perked as he looked up from his dinner.

"Yes, I want to ask her some things," Stoick said seriously.

"What kind of things?" Hicca was curious what kind of questions her father wanted to ask the goddess, but at the same time she didn't want to know.

"I want to know what her intentions are, and I want to make sure she isn't going to harm you. She may be a goddess but that doesn't mean I trust her. I want to make sure she doesn't just take control of you and cause trouble."

Hicca looked back to her plate. She hadn't really been eating, just pushing the food around with her fork. "To be honest... I really don't think she cares."

Stoick looked at her curiously, "What makes you say that?"

Hicca paused for a moment. She didn't know exactly why she'd said that. She didn't know what Skadi was thinking, but every now and then she got flashes of emotions from her. "She just seems bored most of the time... like she's just waiting for something."

"Waiting for what?" Stoick asked calmly while trying to prompt Hicca to say more.

"I think she's just waiting for me to summon her. I don't know what she's doing in the mean time though." Hicca really wondered what Skadi thought of this whole ordeal. Was she alright with it, or was she planning something? She had no idea. But she did have an idea how they could find out. "Maybe we should make this more public," she thought out loud. "I'm sure everyone has questions for Skadi, myself included. We should hold a meeting in the great hall."

"Good idea," Stoick agreed. "I'll spread the word. We'll hold it tomorrow afternoon."

"Alright," Hicca said getting up from her chair. She gave the rest of her food to Toothless, who happily accepted. "I'm going to bed now."

"Oh, okay." Stoick was surprised at her change in attitude, but he didn't question her.

Hicca walked over and gave him a hug before climbing the stairs to her room. For some reason she felt very tired all of a sudden, she barely finished getting changed before she collapsed into her bed and pulling the covers up to her chin.

For a moment she wondered if she was going to have another dream of Skadi's past tonight. But the thought was minor as sleep over took her.

/LINE BREAK/

The first sound that greeted her was the sound of seagulls and crashing waves. It was odd to hear them, despite the fact that they lived on an island, seabirds tended not to come near with all the dragons around. Hicca looked up at the sky. Sure enough, she could see the white birds against the blue sky. She looked around and found the she was on a balcony overlooking the sea, it was protruding from a grand looking castle made of white material. She'd only ever seen a castle like this in children's books, this was definitely a dream. As she looked closer at the walls of the castle, she saw that the walls and floor were actually made from tiny white seashells. But instead of being shape and pointy, the shells were smooth and shiny, making the castle glitter in the sunlight.

Suddenly the calm scene was shattered as the doors to the balcony were thrown open in anger. Skadi herself stormed out onto the balcony and hurled something into the air with all her strength, startling the birds and causing them to scatter. She then stomped back inside and came out again carrying two more items, which Hicca now saw were large seashells. Once again, she threw them into the air where they flew for a short while until they eventually came crashing down into the ocean bellow. Skadi now stood there panting with her fists clenched in anger.

Hicca then realised that Skadi didn't have on her usual ebony armour, instead she was wearing a simple blue gown. She looked beautiful, but at the same time the dress didn't quite suit her as her armour did.

"Skadi? Are you alright?" Hicca turned towards the source of the deeper voice and saw a handsome man at the doorway to the balcony. He had shoulder length wavy black hair, ocean blue eyes and sun-kissed skin, his face was also round and soft looking. He looked almost the exact opposite to Skadi with her long white hair and pale angular features.

"Of course I'm not alright!" She roared back. "Every day those stupid birds wake me with their squawking, it's hard enough to get to sleep with the constant crashing of waves beneath us. If I have to endure one more morning of their screeching I'd happily cut my ears off!"

The man stood silent as Skadi raged, it reminded Hicca of how Gobber would listen to her as she yelled about her problems. Sure enough when all the anger was gone Skadi stood their panting, her angry expression now replaced with one of pure exhaustion.

The man slowly and calmly stepped towards her and placed a gentle arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry it aggravates you so much, but just bear with it a little longer. In a few days we'll head to the mountains and you'll be back to your old self again."

Skadi sighed tiredly and turned to the man, "And then what?" She asked. "You'll complain about the wolves and the cold, just as I'm complaining about the birds and the waves. We've been going back and forth for centuries but it's just not working." The man nodded and looked out to the ocean. "Let me ask you something," Skadi placed a hand on the man's cheek, making him face her. "Are you happy with me?"

Hicca felt a little uncomfortable watching the two gods talk. This was a very intimate discussion, but she couldn't help feeling that it was important for her to see this. The man took his time and Skadi waited patiently for his honest answer. "No." The man answered sadly, "I'm sorry."

Skadi gave a soft smile and shook her head. "Don't be," she said. "It just confirms that we both feel the same way."

"So... we're going our separate ways now?" the man asked.

Skadi simply nodded.

The two held their gaze and slowly embraced. It was for the best, they both realised that, but at the same time they couldn't help but feel sadness as they said goodbye to each other. When they finally pulled away, the man lay one last kiss upon Skadi's forehead and started walking back inside, his head held high.

"Njord... thank you." The man turned and gave her a short bow and continued inside.

All at once Hicca felt overwhelmed by emotion, as the full force of what she'd just witnessed hit her. She realised who the man was.

Njord, God of the sea winds. And Skadi's former husband.

**Second official Norse Mythology lesson :) Njord is the god of the sea winds and is also associated with seafaring, fishing, and is even able to calm fires with his wind, he is also one of the Vanir gods, the gods associated with fertility. When Skadi was allowed to choose her husband from among the gods, she was only allowed to choose based on their feet, since Njord's feet had been smoothed and washed by the sea water Skadi found them to be most handsome, and mistook them for Baldr's since he was the most handsome of the gods. Since Skadi and Njord lived in very different places, they compromised by spending nine years in Njord's ocean home and the next nine years at Skadi's mountain home, the two later separated and Njord never remarried. **

**Hope you liked this chapter :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi :) I really want to see how many different people actually read my story, so if it's not too much trouble, could all leave a review, it doesn't have to be criticism it can just be to say hi :) The 5****th**** Chapter's here, Skadi returns and some history's revealed :)**

The Valhalla Crystal

Chapter 5: Past

The next morning, Hicca woke to the thumping on her roof. She still felt a little upset over her dream, it felt a very intrusive of her to be looking into Skadi's memories. But the connection they shared most likely went both ways, meaning that Skadi was able to see into her memories as well. She decided not to let it bother her, if anything it gave her a better insight into what kind of person Skadi was. Just like yesterday, she got ready for the day and went with Toothless for their morning flight. Toothless noticed that Hicca was definitely more relaxed than she had been yesterday, like she was finally get used to everything, and for that he was happy. They performed a few tricks in the air, enjoying the feeling of the wind whizzing past them, over his wings and through her hair.

As they soared through the clouds, Hicca thought about her dreams last night and the night before. She also thought about the meeting that would be held tonight. Based on the dreams she had, she honestly believed that Skadi was a good person. In fact, compared to some of the stories she'd heard about the other gods, Skadi seemed surprisingly normal. She was seen as violent and vengeful, but given the circumstances she was in it was understandable. She did have questions for Skadi, and she intended to ask them tonight.

/LINE BREAK/

The rest of the day went as normal after that. In dragon training they went over hand signals and target practice, and she then accompanied her father in the afternoon and observed as he handled some domestic disputes. She was also able to help out a little. One of the fishermen at the docks was blaming another for stealing some of his haul, Stoick tried to calm him down but the man was adamant and refused to do so until Stoick did something. It was Hicca who realised that some Terrible Terrors were taking the fish, and all because the man had forgotten to lock his baskets. The man stuttered and blushed slightly in embarrassment before hurriedly going back to his business, Hicca gave a small laugh while Stoick looked at her proudly.

Later that night, the grand hall was filled with people. Since they weren't sure how Skadi would react to the dragons, they were not allowed inside, so Toothless and was forced to wait just outside the door. Alvin was the only person in the village who didn't attend, it seems he didn't feel it worth his time and went late night fishing instead. Hicca was unbelievably nervous. The villagers knew about the Valhalla Crystal, but only eight people knew that Hicca was the new vessel, and now everyone was about to be told. Would they start treating her differently? What if they acted like Fishlegs and were afraid of her? Hicca was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice Gobber walking up behind her.

She jumped slightly when he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay, lass?"

"Um... not really," she said honestly. "What if... what if they react badly?"

"Hicca," Gobber said calmly. "These are your friends and villagers here. It's true they tend to jump to conclusions, but they all know you, they know you would never do anything to endanger them." Gobber patted her back reassuringly, "Now, you're father's about to go up there and tell everyone. Are you ready?"

Hicca took and deep breath and nodded. She and Gobber watched as Stoick took the platform, he held his hands up to draw attention and everyone gradually went silent. "I'm sure you're all wondering why I called this meeting. Well I'll get straight to the point, this is about the Valhalla Crystal." There were murmurs throughout the room. The most common thing Hicca picked up on was people asking what the Valhalla Crystal was. Stoick also heard this and answered, "For those of you who don't know, the Valhalla Crystal is a mystic artefact that allows someone to control the power of the gods."

There were more murmurs and also some yelling, wondering why Stoick was even telling them about an old legend. Again Stoick answered, "I am telling you all this, because the legends are not just legends... We have found the crystal."

More yelling began. "What!?" "Where is it now!?" "Shouldn't it have been destroyed!?" "What happened to it!?"

The shouting was getting louder by the second, Stoick raised his hands again and order was slowly restored. He gave a quick look to Hicca, silently asking if it was okay for him to tell everyone, she gave a nod and he turned back to the crowd. "The crystal is now inside of my daughter," he said simply. "She is now in control of its power."

There was a pause as everyone turned from the stage to Hicca. She was looking at the ground just waiting for someone to say something, even the other teens at the back of the room stopped and waited.

Then everyone flooded Hicca, they crowded her and started yelling questions. Hicca tried to answer, "W-Well... I just... it's not that... p-please just... wait a second." Hicca tried to back up and give herself some more room, but every time she took one step back the crowd took two forward. Thank goodness for Gobber.

"Alright, alright! Back up the lot of ya' and give the girl some room to breathe!" Gobber bellowed as he stood in front of Hicca and waved him mace arm threateningly in the air. Gobber, Stoick and Hicca all breathed a sigh of relief as everyone quieted down and backed up slightly. Stoick then gestured her to come onto the platform, Hicca collected herself and started walking towards her father.

As she walked towards the stage, she could practically hear her heat beating in her throat. Stoick pulled her to one side and whispered to her gently. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just... What if something goes wrong? What if they don't trust me anymore? What if Skadi does something?" She was whispering and panicking slightly at the same time.

"Hicca, calm down," he said as he rubbed her back calmly. "It'll all be alright."

His confidence somehow calmed her instantly. She look out over the crowd and took one last calming breath, she then turned back to her father. "You might want to stand back a bit"

Stoick allowed Hicca some room as she remained standing slightly off centre on the platform. She closed her eyes and thought about Skadi, trying to find a glimpse of Skadi inside her own soul. Right there, at the back of her mind, she found a small spark of ice. That was Skadi. Then, barely above a whisper, she spoke to her. "Skadi... help me."

There was a flash and Hicca was gone in a blinding light. Most of the people started to panic, Gobber and Stoick even more so, the only ones who were acting somewhat calm were the other dragon riders. They'd seen this before, it didn't seem as violent as the first time, but the swirl of light and colours and the ever shifting form was just as impressive as they remembered.

And then, just like before, the energy was gone just as quickly as it came. There on the stage stood Skadi. With her shining black armour, flowing white hair, and swords ready at her sides. She stood still for a moment before her eyes open, her emotionless glowing eyes look over the crowd. She was completely unlike Hicca and the look alone unnerved them, but no one made a move. Then Skadi slowly turn to look at Stoick, as she did so, the swords at her sides twitched slightly. The teens watched for what felt like ages, a small part of them worried that something may have gone wrong and that Skadi was about to make use of her swords.

But then Skadi's expression turned into one of annoyance. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave a sigh, then she spoke, her voice sounding bored with its usual undertone of whispers. "So, Chief Stoick, I hear you have some questions for me."

Stoick collected himself and stood strong in front of his people. "Indeed, are you really the Goddess Skadi?"

Skadi rolled her eyes. "I am, or where the glowing eyes and white hair not a big enough of a giveaway that I'm not exactly human?" Her rude response was enough to convinced Stoick that the person standing in front of them was definitely not his daughter. This wasn't even a human.

"Why are you here?" Stoick asked.

"Why?" Skadi looked confused for a second before shrugging. "I honestly don't know. When someone takes control of the Valhalla Crystal, a god is assigned to them, simple as that. I used to think they were picked randomly, but now... I'm starting to think that there is a method to choosing them."

"And just what is it? Why were you chosen for my daughter?"

There was another pause before Skadi answered. "Simply put... When a god is summoned through the Valhalla Crystal, they give something to the person they're attached to. Sometimes it's strength, or wisdom, or courage. In this case though, I'm simply here because she needs me."

It was a short and sweet response, but it did nothing to answer Stoicks question. "What? How does my daughter need you?"

Skadi sighed again. "Even I don't know the full details, it's just the answer I was given when I asked. But by the looks of it this girl wants nothing to do with me. Normal when a human has this much power at their disposal, they don't hide it away, they make use of it. I've seen into the girls memories, she may not be very strong but she's more than capable of handling herself. I honestly don't know the real reason why someone like me was chosen for her."

Skadi's honest answer seemed to calm everyone. She may be powerful, but she was also sensible and had no ill will towards humans. But just to make sure, Stoick asked her. "Do you have any other intentions here?"

Again Skadi's answer was straight forward and honest. "Nope, I'm just supposed to do whatever the girl tells me to."

Suddenly Astrid's voice was heard from the back of the room, "Hicca!" Skadi, Stoick and many other people turned to her, but Astrid stood firm. "Her name is Hicca, not 'that girl'."

Skadi paused and looked at Astrid with calculating eyes, everyone else looked back and forth between the two nervously. Then Skadi sighed again, "Fine, I'm just supposed to do whatever... Hicca... tells me to." She gave Astrid a look before turnings back to Stoick. "When Hicca summons me it has to be with a purpose, the first time she wanted to protect her friends and get rid of that mad man, and this time she just wanted me to answer your questions. It's an odd request, but if she doesn't ask me for something then there's nothing I can do to intervene."

Stoick nodded. He didn't have any more questions personally, so he turned to the rest of the room. "Does anyone else have any questions?"

There was silence for a little while. But then Fishlegs raised his shaking hand. "Um, well... w-what do you do while Hicca's in control? Are you inside her body or... somewhere else?"

Skadi turned her head to the side slightly and thought for a moment. "Hmm... I guess it's a bit of both. I'm conscious of what Hicca is doing when she's in control, so I know when she needs me. But at the same time I'm somewhere else, a place where I can see into her memories and know about her relationships with others. She's able to do the same when I'm in control, but she's not used to the transfer between us yet. She can only views my memories in her dreams, and she is somewhat conscious of my actions when I'm here."

"So you're aware of the dragons then?" Gobber asked.

"I am. I remember hunting them when they were on my mountain, it was quite a surprised to find them so domesticated here. I'm very impressed that Hicca is the one responsible for it. She's a very interesting girl..." Skadi features relaxed as she trailed off, as if she was recalling a distant memory.

"Hey, hey, I got one!" Snotlout yelled while standing on a chair. "Who was the first god to ever be summoned by the Valhalla Crystal?"

There were several murmurs in the room, it seemed the Snotlout wasn't the only one curious of the crystals history. "It was Odin himself of course," Skadi answered in matter of fact tone. "He was the one who created the crystal after all." This only caused more questioning murmurs through the room, Skadi thought for a moment before coming to her conclusion. She turned back to Stoick, "None of you know anything about the crystals origins, do you?"

"Before all this, I just thought it was a legend passed through the blood line. Could you tell us what you know? It may be useful." Stoick asked.

Skadi sighed for a third time and walked off stage. The crowd parted as she walked to towards one of the tables and sat down, she then turned back to the crowd. "You all might want to find a seat, I'll start from the beginning, and it might take a while."

/LINE BREAK/

It took a little while, but soon all of the benches had been pulled forward around Skadi. Everyone had either found a seat or sat on the floor, the teens sat on a table not far from Skadi.

Then she began.

"As some of you may be aware, at the very start of the world, the entire archipelago was ruled by one person. The very first Viking, known as Varan the Brave, he was strong, valiant, but also fair and kind. The gods saw him and recognised that he was a great man, so they decided to reward him for his bravery. All of the gods brought forth a drop of their blood, which Odin mixed together and hardened in to a gem, that gem was the Valhalla Crystal. The gods gave the gem to Varan and said that if he ever needed help then he could summon them. For many years, Varan used the crystals power to protect his people and his land, it was because of him that Vikings are so feared today." There was a shared look of pride around the room as Skadi said that. But Skadi's expression then turned hard.

"However, as Varan grew older, it became harder for him to keep track of all of his land. So he split the islands between his eight children. Each offspring took charge of the group of people on their islands and became the first chiefs of the eight main tribes in the archipelago. The Hairy Hooligans, the Hysteric tribe, the Meatheads, the Bashem Oiks, the Hysterias, the Berserker tribe, the Bog-Burglars and the Lava Louts. All the chiefs proved to be great leaders and all of the tribes thrived, but there were still some people who wanted the crystals power. Throughout most of his late life, Varan was constantly targeted by people wanting the crystal, thankfully he was protected by its power and couldn't be killed in battle. But his experience made him realise that after he passer on, the crystal might fall into the wrong hands. So he made a deal with the gods, and they gods agreed to alter the crystal so that only those who shared the Varan's bloodline could use its power"

"What's a bloodline?" Snotlout called out.

"It's where you share the same blood as your parents and ancestors" Skadi answered. "Of course this still meant that any of Varan's eight children could still use the crystal, and so could any other their offspring, and so on. Needless to say, when Varan finally passed away and the crystal was released, the eight tribes fought over it. For centuries the crystal was stolen from tribe to tribe, the stories of its power passed down through the generations. Last I heard, the crystal fell into the hands of Grimbeard the Ghastly, chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe." Skadi glanced over her shoulder to where the painted shields hung on the wall, Skadi saw the portrait of Hicca and Stoick, and 3 shields to the left was the painting of Grimbeard and his son Hiccup.

"That's him there," Skadi said gesturing to the painting. "Not a bad rendition I must say." She then turned back to Stoick, "You probably know more about what happened after that."

Stoick nodded, "My great grandfather knew that the crystal might fall into the wrong hands. So he had his son, my grandfather, hide it."

"And then your daughter found it, and the story continues." Skadi and everyone else in the room went quiet after that. Then the silence was broken by Tuffnut and Ruffnut, they both raised their hands and jumped around excitedly.

"Oh, oh! We finally thought of a question."

"Can you show us your ice powers again?"

"Yeah, can you?" both twins finished and look at Skadi with wide eyes.

Skadi looked surprised. Their childish enthusiasm was quite a turn from the seriousness of the story. But then a sly smile over took her face, she pulled a hand behind her back casually. "Oh, you want to see that again?" The twins nodded impatiently. From just behind Skadi, Stoick could see blue lights swirly around her hand, from the energy two apple sized snow balls formed. He glanced at Skadi in surprise, it seemed as though this cool and collected woman had a playful side too.

Suddenly Skadi threw her hand forward towards the twins. The snowballs shot forward and hit the two directly in the faces, the two fell back in surprise before bursting out into laughter. The other teens and Gobber soon joined them and eventually most of the crowd were laughing as well. The rest of the villagers were smiling in relief, now that they knew the Goddess in front of them was not a danger to them.

Skadi turned back to Stoick with a smile, "I've decided," she said to him as they listened to the crowd laugh and cheer happily. "These people aren't as I imagined and they interest me. As long as Hicca allows me, I'll protect them with all my power."

Stoick looked at her for a moment, then he smiled and nodded. "Thank you, but there is one more thing I'd like you to do," he added quietly.

"What is it?"

Stoick looked at her, and with the room stilled filled with sounds of joy, he whispered something that only she could hear. "Please protect my daughter."

Skadi looked at him and frowned slight. "By all means, if she needs me to protect her I'll be there. But there is a problem."

"What is it?"

"I can only be there when she summons me. But from what I've observe, Hicca doesn't like asking for help for herself. It's possible that if she's in trouble she'll try and handle on her own, I won't be able to do anything but watch if she chooses to do so." Skadi didn't look at Stoick as she told him this, she looked out over the crowd instead.

Hicca was willing to die for them but wouldn't lift a finger to help herself. Skadi thought for a little longer.

If there was ever a time when Hicca needed her but refused to call on her... was there really nothing she could do?

**So there's a bit of background and the scene is set, the real drama starts in the next chapter ;) let me know what you think **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6****h**** is here, bit more info for the set up for the main drama**

The Valhalla Crystal

Chapter 6: Beginning

After Skadi's announcement of alliance, the meeting in the grand hall had soon turned into a celebration, the mead was broken out and soon people were yelling and chatting merrily.

After a short while of Skadi watching the commotion she turned to Stoick, "I'll be taking my leave now, you may want to get ready to catch her," Stoick looked confused for a second, but as Skadi vanished in a flash of light, Hicca was brought back and looked ready to faint, Stoick caught her and was relieved to see that she was only sleeping.

Suddenly there was a scrapping coming outside, Stoick and some other turned to see Toothless scrambling through the window, from his ungraceful perch he looked around until he spotted Hicca in Stoicks arms. He then scrabbled through the window and jumped down

"Nightfury!" Someone yelled "Get down!" A couple of years ago a yell like that would have been met with terror, but now as Toothless lumbered through the tables occasionally bumping into people, it was almost like a greeting to ebony dragon. People moved to give him room as he made his way towards Hicca, all knowing just how protective he was of their heiress, when Toothless finally reach Hicca he sniffed her and gurgled worriedly.

The chief placed a large hand on his head, "She's fine Toothless, just resting," the dragon made a soft growl almost like he was sighing in relief, Stoick loosened his grip on Hicca and allowed the dragon to curl his body around her, her upper half leaning against his side with his tail and head resting on her lap, his then carefully folded his wing around her. Once he knew she was safe the dragon yawned and fell into a light slumber around his rider.

Despite all of the noise and banter, Hicca slept soundly for a few hours, when she finally woke she was surprised to find herself in Toothless's grasp, wasn't Toothless supposed to be outside with the other dragons? "Toothless?" she mumbled.

"He climbed in here just after Skadi left, he's refused to leave you since then." Her father answered, Hicca looked over to see him sitting close by, he couldn't help but keep a close watch on the two of them.

Hicca rubbed her eyes tiredly, "So everything went well with Skadi?"

"You had nothing to worry about, she's given us her word to protect this island and you, all you have to do is ask," he father said, he was obviously pleased with the results.

"That's good," Hicca started to sit up slowly trying not to wake her dragon, when suddenly a thought struck her, Toothless seemed to be sleeping a lot more than usual recently.

Stoick noticed the look of concern on her face, "Is something wrong?" Her father asked.

Hicca turned to him in worry, "It's strange, Toothless has been flying just fine, but he's also been really sleepy these past few days."

Her father just chuckled, "He's just caching up on sleep, he's been staying up most nights to watch over you."

As her father said those words Hicca realised that it was the obvious answer, Toothless was as protective and stubborn as she was, he'd been staying up all night and then acting perfectly normal in the morning so as not to worry her. Hicca smiled down at her best friend and scratched behind his ear, the large dragon gurgled happily and waged his large tail in his sleep, her father watched in amusement, it was hard to imagine sometimes, this powerful creature could be turned into an adorable lap dog at the hands of his daughter in a matter of second.

His thoughts were interrupted when Gobber and the rest of Hicca's friends walked over, "Well good morning, sleepy head!" Gobber bellowed happily despite it being almost midnight.

"How do you feel?" Astrid asked

"I'm fine, how was Skadi?"

"It was pretty cool, she told us about the history of the Valhalla Crystal," Fishlegs said excitedly, he really wanted to be the one to retell the story to Hicca.

Hicca could tell that Fishlegs wanted to tell her, so she asked, Fishlegs happily sat down and recited word for word what Skadi had told them, Varan and his eight sons, the gods creating the crystal, and how the sons formed the eight main tribes and fought over the crystal until it fell in Hicca's great great grandfathers hands.

"Wait a second," Snotlout interrupted

Fishlegs turned to him with a look of annoyance at being interrupted, "What is it, Snotlout?"

"What about the Outcasts? How come Skadi didn't mention them?"

"Because they're not one of the eight main tribes," Hicca answered, remembering all the lessons from her father about the other tribes, "the Outcasts were formed by a group of people who were banished from their own tribe, any new banishments were sent to their island, they might actually be the only tribe we don't have to worry about when it comes to the crystal."

"Why?" Ruffnut asked, "That thing's awesome, why wouldn't they be interested?"

"Because they won't be able t' use it," Everyone turned to see Alvin behind them

"How do you figure?" Snotlout asked, being the most comfortable to speak around Alvin.

"The crystal can only be used by those who carry Varan's bloodline, that bloodline was passed through 'is sons and t' each of the following 'eirs and 'eiresses, anyone who isn't a current chief or 'eir can't use it. Simply put, Outcasts don't 'ave the bloodline, so we can't use the crystal."

"But that doesn't make sense," Astrid said, "with all the marriages and multiple siblings in a family, how would the crystals power be limited to just the chief and heir?"

"Yeah," Snotlout jumped up excitedly, "Hicca and I are cousins, does that mean I can use the crystal as well?"

"No," Stoick said, taking over the conversation, "the crystals power can only be used by the chief's bloodline not other extending family members, Hicca has something that symbolises her as my heir, the same way I have something that symbolises my role as chief. From what I've heard, the crystal is somehow able to detect this and only works for those with that symbol," Stoick looked at Hicca, silently asking her if she knew what he was talking about.

And she did, she had a symbol of her right as heir, she had been wearing it for as long as she could remember and never took it off, she sometimes forgot it was there. She reached to her neck and pulled out a long thin rope hidden under her tunic's neckline, she pulled it forward to show a pendant dangling in front of her. It was a small silver disk engraved on both sides with their tribe's crest, Stoick pulled out his from under his beard, it was the same as Hicca's except in gold and slightly larger.

"These pendants have been passed down through generations," He told the others, "every chief and heir has them, each engraved with the mark of their tribe, this is the key that allows the crystal to work."

"So Dagur has one of those as well?" Astrid asked.

"Yes, he wears the heir's crest still until he produces an heir himself," Hicca answered, tucking her pendant back under her tunic and making sure the rope was hidden.

"Dagur with kids? That's a bit of a scary though," Astrid murmured.

Suddenly Tuffnut's eyes widened, "Whoa, whoa, wait a second!" he shouted making the others jump, "if Varan's bloodline is carried through every tribe from chief to heir... does that mean Hicca and Dagur are related too?"

There was a long pause, Hicca then gave a shudder and look very ill, "I really don't want to think about that," the others soon joined her in laughter.

/LINE BREAK/

That night as Hicca slept, her dreams turned into memories once more. She found herself on the top of a snowy mountain, there was a slight wind but thankfully the chill didn't touch Hicca's skin, this was her dream after all. The crisp whiteness around her was beautiful , it reminded Hicca of when she and Astrid would go Dragon Sledding, Hicca looked at her feet and realised that she was actually hovering just above the snowy surface, it was a pleasant feeling knowing that she could wander and not disturb the untouched splendour of her surroundings.

Suddenly there was a yell of pure joy from behind her, Hicca turned just in time to see Skadi rocketing towards her, the surprise made her forget that this was a dream and she dived wildly to the left, she just managed to avoid the flash of white as it shot passed her. Hicca stood to find that she was moving, it was a very surreal feeling, she wasn't moving her feet at all and yet she was keeping up with Skadi as she flew down the mountain side.

Hicca the realised that running along Skadi was a pack of wolves, their powerful muscles propelling them along through the white powder, Skadi herself was standing on two thin wooden planks, despite her breathtaking speeds she moved with grace and elegance as she weaved through the trees. Her hair was fluttering behind her, looking like white silken strands and her armour glinting in the sun's rays, but what struck Hicca the most was the look of pure bliss on her face, she even laughed delight as she jumped over a small snow mound making a graceful spin as she did so.

Hicca realised why the smile struck her so, in all of the other dreams she'd seen, Skadi had been angry, frustrated and even sad, this was the first time Hicca had seen her truly free and happy. Her smile seemed to make her skin glow, and her eyes shone brighter until they looked like blue tinted diamond, it made Hicca smile to see her like this, and Hicca knew that this was a feeling they shared in common.

The feeling of freedom that Skadi felt while skiing, was exactly the same as Hicca felt while flying.

/LINE BREAK/

Hicca felt well rested the next morning, when she went down stairs she found her father already up, "Good morning," she greeted.

"Morning Hicca, you look like you slept well," he noted looking up from his papers.

"I did, I had a great dream last night," she said with a smile as she grabbed a few apples from the counter, they didn't have any dragon training today, she had no lessons with her father and the forge didn't have any major orders in so Gobber didn't need help. For the first time in ages, Hicca finally had a day off, and she was going to spend it flying with Toothless

They had been flying for a few hour already, stopping once to catch some fish for Toothless before they took off again, at around midday they found themselves flying high in the cloud line, Toothless running his wings along the clouds and Hicca doing the same with her hands, fleeing the light chill that ran across her fingertips, she was truly happy.

But then she spotted something, "Toothless, wait a minute" she called, the dragon halted and gave a high pitched growl in question.

From the corner of her eye she spotted a small black dot on the ocean's surface, at first she thought it was just a fishing boat, but then she saw the many shields with black ink painted on in the image of a Skrill, it was a Berserker ship. Hicca flew up higher so they wouldn't see her, she took out her spyglass and looked behind her, from this height she could just make out the grey form of her island, it would take them 6 hours to reach Berk from where they were now. It took almost an entire day and night to sail between the two islands, needless to say dragons could fly the same distance in half the time, but why was the ship below them just sitting there?

Through her spyglass she could see people wandering on deck, so the ship wasn't abandoned, but they had dropped anchor and were just floating there, the crew members were just sitting around, they weren't preparing weapons or rope, just waiting...

Hicca didn't like it one bit, she decided to turn back so that she could report this to her father, "Toothless, let's go!" Hicca pulled slightly on the reins, Toothless tilted his body and beat his wings hard as they flew towards Berk.

/LINE BREAK/

When Hicca arrived back on Berk, she found her father at Silent Sven's farms on the edge of the village, "Dad!"

Stoick looked up at her, as Toothless landed, Hicca jumped down and rushed over, "Hicca? I thought you were going flying all day?" Her dad asked slightly concerned.

"I was, but I saw a Berserker ship, it's a six hour sail away from here"

"What? Was Dagur on it? Did they see you?"

"I didn't see him, and I stayed out of sight, but also, the ship doesn't seem to be moving at all and the crew is just sitting there, they're not getting ready for battle or anything," Hicca answered.

Her father paused and thought for a moment, "It's very possible they're waiting till cover of night, but still, just one ship is rather strange" he thought aloud. He paused again and thought a little more before nodding, "I'll inform the watchmen to light the torches keep a lookout tonight, you and the other riders check on it later tonight and see if it's changed course."

"Right," Hicca nodded and ran back to Toothless ready to fly off to tell the others.

"Hicca," Her father stopped her, "If Dagur is on board and he's here looking for you, I want you to go to the cove and hide there, understood? Even if you do have Skadi's help, I don't want you engaging his soldiers."

Hicca turned with a sigh of annoyance, "Dad, this won't be the first time I've been in a fight, and unlike last time I encountered Dagur, I'll be ready, I have both Toothless and Skadi with me."

"I know that, I just want you to be careful," her father told her, he knew she was right, but it didn't stop him from worrying, what Skadi said yesterday had been right on the mark, it's very possible that if Hicca was separated from Toothless, she wouldn't ask Skadi for help, it just wasn't something she was comfortable with. She did have that shield of hers, but Dagur was a fierce fighter none the less.

"I will," Before he realised it, Hicca mounted Toothless and took off.

/LINE BREAK/

Needless to say, some of the other riders weren't very pleased with being called to the academy on their day off, Snotlout was the first to complain.

"Seriously Hicca, if this is another of your stupid attack drills-" he started.

"It's not a drill, trust me, I'm just as disappointed as you with having my day off spoiled," Hicca told him.

"So what's going on?" Astrid asked.

"I spotted a Berserker ship, it's already more than half way here and my dad thinks it might be waiting till dark to attack."

"Seriously? Is Dagur really stupid enough to attack an island that's protected by a goddess? And with only one ship?" Ruffnut noted, she actually had a point.

"That's exactly why we need to check it out tonight, Dagur may be unhinged, but he's not stupid," Hicca said sternly, "he's definitely up to something."

The other riders shared a look, they knew she was right, Dagur had already proven himself to be a powerful leader, undeniably he did so through fear and intimidation, but he was able to lead a tribe despite the fact that he wasn't thinking straight most of the time. Hicca knew how, without a doubt Dagur was determined. When he set his mind to something, he always found a way to do it, even if he was defeated most of the time, he still got much closer to winning than most. Determination was a powerful thing indeed.

The others agreed to meet up with Hicca later, as they were leaving the arena Hicca noticed Alvin walking towards her, waving to catch her attention.

"Alvin, what are you doing here?" Hicca asked.

"Honestly, Ah' need some 'elp with some dragons," he said walking closer Hicca.

However Toothless moved in front of Hicca, he didn't growl or make any other noises just stood and watched Alvin with narrow eyes, Hicca placed a hand on his head, "Easy boy, it's okay," she turned back to Alvin, "he's still a little wary of you" she said. She understood completely, Hicca didn't fully trust Alvin yet, she accepted him as a part of their tribe, but outright refused to let him ride a dragon. "What kind of dragons did you need help with?"

"Just some Terrors, they keep climbing on me' roof and making 'oles and keeping me up at night" Alvin said annoyed. Terrible Terrors were still the most troublesome of the dragon species on their island, they were obviously too small to ride, so messengers and pets were the only real jobs they had, this meant that quite a few were still stealing fish and wrecking stuff.

"Well... the one thing I'd suggest is eel oil," Hicca said after thinking about it for a little while, she didn't tell Alvin exactly why eel oil would work, but she didn't want to just dismiss him, Astrid was constantly saying Hicca was too kind for her own good.

"Ah've tried that, it doesn't 'elp" Alvin said with a shrug, "Ah' don't suppose you could come take a look tomorrow could ya'?" he asked.

This time Toothless made a small but menacing growl at the back of his through, "Um... I could, but..." Hicca said nervously.

Alvin took the basket he'd been carrying off his shoulder, "Now Ah' know you and Toothy 'ere don't fully trust me, but if you could 'elp me out Ah'd really appreciate it."

Hicca realised that the basket must have contain some kind of peace offering, sure enough Alvin lifted the lid to reveal a mountain of cod, needless to say Toothless's growl instantly turned into happy panting with his tongue hanging out, he dived head first into the basket and devoured the contents the rest of his body hanging out with his tail wagging. When the basket was finally empty, Toothless pulled his head out and licked his lips happily, he then turned back to Alvin, eyes narrow but still purring , Hicca sighed knowing that regardless of what she thought, she was going to help Alvin tomorrow.

**So any idea what's gonna happen? LOL, let me know what you think :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**7****h**** Chapter is here, serious drama on the way, also I'll be adding thoughts in this chapter so:**

"**Speaking"**

'_**Thoughts'**_

The Valhalla Crystal

Chapter 7: Plans

Just after the sun had set, the dragon riders took off, heading in the direction of Berserker island, as they neared the area where Hicca and Toothless had seen the ship, they rose higher so that they wouldn't be spotted. Sure enough, after flying for 3 hours they eventually spotted the ship.

"There it is," she pointed out, Toothless and the other dragons hovering in place, she threw her spyglass over to Fishlegs, "What do you think?"

Fishlegs pulled out the Book of Dragons and turned to the page on the Skrill, there was the insignia of the Berserker tribe on the page, Fishlegs looked through the spyglass and compared the marks on the shields to the one on the page, after a little while of looking back and forth he nodded his head, "It's definitely legitimate, has it moved since you last saw it?"

"No, as far as I can tell it hasn't moved at all, even if it is one ship we need to keep an eye on it, if it starts moving towards Berk we need to warn everyone," Hicca told them.

"How long do we need to wait?" Snotlout asked, bored tone already coming through as he put his feet up on Hookfangs head.

Hicca started counting on her fingers, 'Around this time of year night time lasts for 9 hours, it took us 3 to fly here, so that leaves 6 hours, which is how long it takes to sail to Berk.' She nodded and turned towards the others, "If they don't make a move in the next couple of hours they'll miss their opportunity to attack under the cover of night. We'll wait for-Whoa!" Hicca cried out as Toothless banked suddenly to the left.

"Hicca!" The others shouted in worry.

Thankfully Toothless regained his composure but gurgled sadly as he hovered wobbly, Hicca regained her balance and leaned over so that she could get a better look at Toothless, she was concerned that he'd been hit by something. But she couldn't see any injuries, Toothless just shook his head and blinked his eyes sleepily, he seemed to be panting heavily as well, "Toothless, are you alright? What's wrong?"

Toothless just gurgled worriedly, even he didn't know what just happened, a sudden dizziness just overtook him, Astrid and Stormfly hovered close enough to pat Toothless on the nose, "Hicca, Toothless doesn't look so good."

"Maybe you should head back to Berk, we can't risk you falling out of the sky when we're trying to keep watch," Ruffnut pointed out.

"Yeah, we can take care of things from here," Tuffnut said trying to sound tough.

Hicca looked at them worriedly before agreeing, "Toothless, do you think you'll be alright to fly back?" Toothless still look a little shaky but still nodded determinedly.

As Toothless turned to fly back to Berk, Hookfang and Snotlout flew alongside them, "We'll go back with you, if Toothless falls again Hookfangs strong enough to carry him, right boy?" Snotlout patted Hookfang on the head, the Monstrous Nightmare breathed a small stream of flames in confirmations. Hicca smiled gratefully and the two started heading back, leaving the others to watch over the ship.

/LINE BREAK/

It took 4 hours for Hookfang and Toothless to get back to Berk, Toothless's speed was greatly lessened, all the while Hicca stroked his head and tried to comfort him. They eventually landed on the cliff edge just behind the forge, Toothless slumped down heavily as Hicca quickly dismounted and kneeled in front of her dragon, "Sorry about that bud, we'll soon find out what's wrong with you," she promised.

It was normal for Gobber to be working late at the forge he even slept there sometimes, this was one of those times, but needless to say the sound of two dragons landing heavily just outside his shop soon had him awake and hobbling out the back to investigate, "Hicca? Snotlout? What are you two doing back 'ere? I thought you 'ad a mission."

"We did but-" Snotlout started before Hicca interrupted him worriedly

"Something's wrong with Toothless," there was a hint of fear in Hicca's voice, and despite it being the middle of the night Gobber was immediately awake. He hobbled over to Toothless and kneeled next to Hicca, after years of being a dragon expert, if anyone could figure out what was wrong with Toothless, it was Gobber.

He ran his hand over Toothless's scales and looked into his mouth and eyes, "Was 'is flying off at all?" He asked.

"Yeah, it seemed like he was getting dizzy a lot," Snotlout answered for Hicca who was focused on Toothless.

"Any sneezing?"

"No, not-" Snotlout was interrupted as Toothless suddenly jolted and a plasma blast just missed hitting him and Hookfang, "uh... make that a yes."

"Ah see," Gobber finally said as he leaned back with a serious look on his face.

"What is it? What's wrong with him?" Hicca asked almost frantic, Gobber was hardly ever serious.

"Toothless 'as come int' contact with Blue Oleanders," those few words made Hicca and Snotlout both panic, they had all seen the effects of the flowers on their dragons, it had almost killed them.

"But we got rid of all the flowers on the island over a year ago, how could Toothless have come into contact with them?" Snotlout asked moving closer to Hookfang, he was concerned for his own dragon, but unlike Toothless, Hookfang was perfectly fine.

"It's true they're not on this island anymore, but they must still exist somewhere. But Ah' bet Toothless came int' contact with just the pollen not the actual flower, 'e'll be ill for a while but 'e won't die," Gobber said, it was serious, but they were all relieved that Toothless's life wasn't in danger.

Toothless cooed weakly and nuzzled his head against Hicca's cheek, almost as if he was the one reassuring her, Hicca breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good."

Gobber placed a hand on Hicca's back, "Just take 'im 'ome and make sure he gets some rest."

"Okay, thanks Gobber, sorry if we disturbed you," Hicca apologized.

Goober just laughed, "Not a problem lass, just look after 'im alright,"

Hicca nodded and slowly lead Toothless back home, "Goodnight."

The two both gave her a wave, before Gobber then turned to Snotlout, "So, what 'appened to the others?"

"They stayed behind to take care of the ship, we're still not sure if it will actually do anything though," Snotlout said.

"Hmm..." Gobber folded his arms and thought for a minute, "Dagur's sends a ship t' just sit there? Doesn't make any sense," he mumbled, Snotlout watched him for a moment trying to figure out what he was thinking. But then Gobber shook the thought away and turned back to Snotlout, "Anyway, Ah'm going to see if we still 'ave some of that Scauldron venom, you better get back 'ome too lad."

"Sure, see you tomorrow," Snotlout called as he and Hookfang headed home, Gobber then turned back to his forge, it was going to be a long night.

When Hicca got home she found her father was still up, she told him what had happed and he helped her get Toothless up stairs to his bed, he then went out to check on the watchmen. Toothless tried to rest, but ever now and then his eyes would pop open and he'd point his head towards the window as he let out a monstrous sneeze, shooting a blast into the night sky. He let out a grumbling whimper as Hicca stroked behind his ears soothingly, "It's okay, boy, we'll see if Gobber has any medicine tomorrow, in the mean time just try and get some sleep." Toothless gurgled again before falling into fitful sleep, once Hicca made sure he was comfortable she went to bed herself

The other dragon riders finally returned at sun rise, needless to say they and their dragons were all very tired, after reporting to the chief that the ship hadn't moved all night, they all went back to their own homes to get some much needed rest.

/LINE BREAK/

The next morning came as a surprise to Hicca, she expected to be seeing snowy planes or some kind of grand building from Skadi's past, but no dreams came to her last night. Hicca wondered if anything was wrong.

'No, I just decided to give you the night off'

Hicca's eyes widened and she shot up in bed, that's was Skadi's voice, but she wasn't in the room... the voice had come from inside her head, maybe this was the dream, she concluded.

'It's not a dream, it just took me a while to figure out how to do this,' Skadi's voice came again.

"You're... You're talking to me?" Hicca asked slowly, just to make sure.

'Yes. I really don't see why you're having such a hard time coming to terms with this, you're already able to swap places with me and see into my dreams, how is simply talking to me so much worse?' Skadi asked in a bored tone, Hicca realised she did have a point.

"Sorry, I just wasn't expecting it."

'It's okay, it was a surprise for me too, I only just found out this was possible, but it seems like I can only do it when you want to talk to me. By the way, I can hear your thoughts too, you look a little strange talking to open air like that,' Skadi said, Hicca could almost hear the small chuckle in her tone.

"Oh," Hicca tried again, 'So did you want to talk about something?'

'Not really, I just wanted to let you know that we finally have a way of communicating directly now.'

That's when Hicca realised it, she and Skadi had been together for just under 4 days now, and this was the first time they were able to have a conversation, it was nice. 'Right, thank you.'

'It's no trouble, I actually thought this might be better for you.'

'What do you mean?'

'You seem to dislike asking for help out loud, so this way, if you need me, you can call to me through your mind instead.'

Hicca stopped for a moment, had Skadi really noticed that quickly? She had never been comfortable asking for help, even when she was little, back then she hadn't thought it was right to ask for help, she was supposed to be a Viking, and the chiefs heir at that... she was supposed to be strong, so even as a child she never asked for help and never accepted it from anyone who offered.

At first it was just Stoick and Gobber who realised Hicca's unwillingness to receive help, Stoick thought that Hicca was just being stubborn so he never questioned it, Gobber wondered if there was a deeper reason but didn't pry, even so if he saw Hicca needing help, whether she was trying to get something from a high shelf or lifting something heavy, he didn't offer, he just went over and helped before she could protest. But now she didn't have a choice, if she ever needed Skadi's help, she'd have to ask for it, but for Skadi... was asking for help really so minor?

'I wouldn't say minor,' Skadi answered, Hicca remembering only now that Skadi could hear her, 'the fact is that my main propose here is to help you, whatever you need me to do, just ask.'

'But...' Hicca started, but she really didn't know what to say.

Skadi sighed in annoyance despite herself, 'Look, I understand that this is a big issue for you, you don't want to seem weak, or maybe you just don't want to be a burden to others, but there will be situations you can't handle on your own,' she said in a motherly but stern tone.

Hicca and Skadi were both quiet after that, it was quiet a heavy conversation topic. 'You're right, but still... Up until a few months ago, some people were still seeing me as a weak little girl, I just don't want to go back...'

Skadi knew Hicca couldn't see her, but she still nodded in understanding, she understood what it was like, wanting to be accepted, 'You know what your limits are, if you ever feel like you're in over your head, then call me.'

Hicca took a breath to calm herself, 'Thank you,' she said with a small smile, Skadi didn't say anything else, but Hicca just knew she was also smiling.

Then Hicca spoke again, 'By the way, can I ask you something?'

'What is it?'

As it turned out, Hicca hadn't gotten the chance to ask Skadi her questions at the meeting, so now seemed like as good a time as any, 'Are you... well... you do you think about being attached to me like this?' It's something Hicca had been wondering for a while, Skadi was a Goddess, but now she was stuck with Hicca until she died, that was a good few decades away.

Skadi took her time thinking of the right words to say, 'Well...' Hicca waited patiently, 'I guess I'm still getting used to it. I always knew it was a possibility, ever since myself and the other gods gave a drop of our blood into the crystals creation, we always knew that at any time one of us could be chosen to be a servant to a Viking chief or heir.'

'But are you okay with that?'

I still surprised her. She had seen into Hicca's memories, learnt about her people and her past, and yet after all of the time she had been called worthless, weak and useless, she never stopped caring or being forgiving, she was genuinely concerned about Skadi. So the least Skadi could do was give her an honest answer, 'I didn't at first, the thought of obeying a human's every command and fighting their battles for them, it sickened me,' Hicca winced a little as Skadi's tone turned harsh and the whispering under tones became hisses. 'But...' Skadi continued as her tone softened again, 'you are different, your people are different too, they fight their own battles and are very determined, you are as well, but you're also... unique. I want to get to know you better.'

It's strange how those made Hicca blush, no one had ever said that to her before. She wasn't sure if unique was a good thing or bad thing, but if Skadi didn't mind being with her for a while longer, then Hicca guessed it was a good thing.

'Anyway,' Skadi continued, 'you should get up, you can't stay in bed all day.' And with that Skadi's presence left her mind, and Hicca was left to her own thoughts again.

She looked over to Toothless who was still sleeping restlessly, she got up and walked over to Toothless add slowly stroked his head, he gave a low gurgle and shifted slightly in his sleep, she would go to Gobber's later and see if he had any medicine. She went down stairs and brought up some fish for Toothless in case he woke up, then she left to find her father, she had to know what happened with the ship last night.

Sure enough, despite getting just as little sleep as Hicca, Stoick had already been up for hours attending to his duties as chief in the plaza, she found him giving out orders to some workers who were building a new dragon feeding station.

She waited until he sent the workers off before calling to him, "Dad."

Stoick turned, "Hicca, you certainly slept in late, how Toothless?"

"Still not good, but at least he's resting, I'm going over to Gobber's later to see if I can get some medicine. Did anything happen with the ship last night?"

"Nothing according to your friends, the ship never even raised anchor," they both paused for a minute, trying to think why the ship was there, but neither could think of a good reason, so instead Stoick decided to change the subject. "Any idea what the problem with Toothless is?" he asked.

"Gobber said that Toothless came into contact with Blue Oleander pollen, it's not fatal but he is going to be ill for the next few days," Hicca said worriedly.

"I see, what are you going to do without him in the mean time?"

"I'm hoping, Astrid and Fishlegs can take over lessons at the academy, some of the younger children are joining today and we need to make sure everything is ready for them, I also need to go over to Alvin's later."

Stoick frowned a little, "What does Alvin need?"

"He's just having a little trouble with some Terrors on his roof, it shouldn't take me long to sort out," she answered, lately their conversations always sounded like this, no so much a chat between father and daughter, but more like a conversation between equals. Some of the others had noticed the change, but Stoick and Hicca were oblivious to how they addressed each other now.

Stoick paused for a moment before nodding, he may have allowed Alvin on the island again, but he couldn't help but be wary when Hicca was concerned, "Alright then, just be careful"

"I will," Hicca said, as if she'd said it a hundred times before, which she probably had, Stoick watched as she then turned and headed in the direction of Astrid's place.

/LINE BREAK/

I was much later in the day when Hicca finally headed out to Alvin's, thankfully Astrid and Fishlegs were more than happy to take over lessons until Toothless was better, the younger children in the village were taught about the different dragon types and how to pick the right one for them, in a few months time they would be ready to pick their own dragons. She then went over to Gobbers, he had been able to find the last of the Scauldron venom they'd collected, and judging by Toothless's reaction it still tasted horrible, but at least it would help. She'd stayed with him for a few hours before remembering about Alvin, she placed some supplies into her satchel and headed out.

Alvin's house was right at the edge of the village, almost in the forest itself, there were some who still weren't comfortable with Alvin living in the village. Hicca had wondered for a long while what Alvin had done to deserve banishment, Alvin himself had said that a long time ago, before her father became chief, there was a Monstrous Nightmare attack and because Alvin disobedience orders there had been injuries, but that didn't explain much. If it was just as simple as some injuries, then why was her father so adamant about her not knowing, the one time she asked Gobber, he had such a look on his face that she didn't dare ask again.

But of course she had her own theories, one of which was quite plausible, what is the attack Alvin had spoken of had been the same one that Gobber had often spoken of? The Monstrous Nightmare attack 18 years ago where he lost his arm. Despite being friends for longer that Gobber and Stoick had, everything between Stoick and Alvin changed after that, after Stoick became chief Alvin still spoke against regularly and even tried to take the title away from her father, the result was his banishment.

Hicca shook the thought away and carried on walking, as she neared Alvin's home, she started to rethink that term, could the old structure really be called a house? It was a simple shack with no windows and made from splintered wood, to be honest it looked very creepy. Hicca looked onto the roof and saw the problem Alvin had spoken of, three Terrible Terrors were scampering on the roof, as one of them scurried across the beams a small hole opened up under his foot, that shouldn't be possible with how little they weigh the roof must be incredibly mouldy.

"Alvin? Are you here?" She called as she stepped closer, Alvin had definitely asked her to come today, he should be expecting her, but there was no answer.

Hicca looked round but saw no sign of him, she turned back to the roof and watched the Terrors again, why were they attracted to Alvin's roof? He said he'd coated the wood in eel oil, that should have repelled them. But then Hicca saw something that made her doubt everything, one of the Terrors sniffed across the roof and suddenly ran his tongue across one of the planks, there's no way those planks were coated in eel oil.

But before Hicca could think of an explanation, a large muscular arm wrapped around her torso, and a cloth was shoved over her mouth and nose and held there tightly, Hicca squirmed and thrashed around and tried to kick out with her metal leg but the arm squeezed tighter and held her in place. The ghastly smell from the cloth assaulted her senses, she could feel her eyelids getting droopy and her body started to feel heavy, she made one last attempt to at least try and see who her assailant was, twisting her head just enough she looked up to see the large persons face.

Her eyes went wide as she realise she had walked right into a trap, before her body went limp and her eyes closed as she fell into unconsciousness.

Alvin moved the herb infused cloth away from the girls face, then he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, the first step of the plan was complete.

**Dun Dun Duuun! It's all kicking off now, let me know what you think, next chapter will be out soon :) Also wanted to say thank you to my first ever reviews:**

**Aegis Dragon- I'm so happy you find my story interesting, I'm not sure what OP stands for thought :) Also it seems like you're right**

**Guest 1- Thanks :)**

**Guest2- Gracias :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**8****th**** Chapter is here, wondering what happened to Hicca? Stay tuned :)**

"**Speaking"**

'_**Thoughts'**_

The Valhalla Crystal

Chapter 8: Taken

Stoick didn't get back till late that night, he had to watch over several different groups of workers building new houses, dragon feeding units and a new watchtower on the other side of the island. He also had to break up a fight at the grand hall, and it was the worst kind of fight, one between and mother and daughter, even he had found it a little terrifying. But that was how families were sometimes, he and Hicca were a prime example of how things can go from fine on minute to a yelling match the next. It was in times like those that Stoick really wished that Valka was here, she would be so much better at handling this.

Hicca had gotten all of Valka's good qualities. They were both passionate and always did their best regardless of what people thought of them, in truth, Valka's obsession with dragons had caused her to be regarded as weird when they were children. And yet it was that same passion that made Stoick fall in love with her. He did miss her, the worst part was that he didn't even know where she was right now. He refused to think that she was dead, but he knew one thing for sure... Valka was missing their daughter grow up.

Unfortunately all this thinking made his head pound, he had already been on the verge of a headache when he arrived home, and now he was heading into the kitchen to grab an ice block for his head. Things had been much easier when he had Thornado, but his dragon was long gone, looking after the younger of his species, letting him go had been the right thing to do. As he thought of his former companion he remembered Toothless was upstairs and decided to go check on him.

He was surprised to find the dragon on his own and still resting, it was already late and Hicca didn't do much without Toothless, but she could still just be at the forge or maybe visiting one of her friends. Stoick walked over and patted Toothless on the head, the dragon gave a low gurgle and opened his eyes tiredly, he tried to focus on Stoick but soon gave up and covered his eyes with his paws as dizziness over took him.

"It's okay boy, just take it easy," Stoick patted Toothless again. The Dragon looked up again, looking round the room before burbling in question, Stoick guessed he was looking for his rider, "Hicca's not here right now, but don't worry, I'm sure she'll be here when you wake up."

The dragon seemed to nod before allowing sleep to overtake him again. Stoick said it to reassure both the dragon and himself, but it was starting to worry him, normally Hicca would be here watching over Toothless as he slept, just as he had done for her. But maybe she was just busy, she has a lot of responsibilities after all, she'd definitely be back later. In the mean time Stoick decided to take his lead from Toothless and head to bed, he also prayed to the gods that his headache would be gone by morning.

/LINE BREAK/

Alvin had his doubts about teaming up with Dagur again, but when the man young man had mentioned his island and regaining his men, he at least decided to hear him out.

It had all started just after Hicca first gained her powers. She had scared Dagur out of the cavern but not off the island, and Hicca's friends had been too worried about her to check that Dagur was gone, he had circled around the village and avoided the dragons until he found Alvin's rundown home. As Alvin listened to the boys plan, he became more and more intrigued with the end result. Dagur's main goal was to get the crystal and become a god, he'd have no need for soldiers or islands so Alvin could have those. Dagur planned on travelling to the far reaches of the archipelago and taking over all the new lands, taking its treasures and becoming a god of the new words he invaded.

Alvin knew that Dagur was mad, but taking over the lands beyond the archipelago... it was unheard of. Alvin doubted that Dagur would succeed but he didn't care, Alvin had no need for the crystal, he simply wanted power through weapons and manpower, Dagur could go off and kill himself for all he cared. They'd made plans to meet a few days later, which was luckily the day that Stoick had held the meeting to meet Hicca's Goddess, he'd lied about going fishing in his small boat and had rowed west until he met with the Berserker ship. It was the perfect distance away from Berk, far enough away so that Berk wouldn't think it was a direct threat, but near enough so that Alvin could get to it, deliver Hicca, and then get back to the island all in one night.

A little after sunset, Alvin headed back to his home and collected Hicca, her arms were bound to her sides and the herb infused cloth was tied around her mouth and nose, it would keep her unconscious until she reached Berserker Island. He was thankful that the new watchtower on the other side of the island wasn't quite finished yet, if he had waited another day he would have lost his escape route, it was a long distance but Alvin was willing to do anything to get his power back. Alvin had reached the ship and signalled to them using a small lamp, they signalled back and threw down a rope ladder, Alvin picked up Hicca under his arm and started climbing.

As he climbed, one of the guards called down to him, "Did you bring the girl?"

The other Berserker soldiers standing firm ready to attack just in case, the Outcasts soldiers that had joined the Berserker tribe were hiding below deck, scared about what their former leader would do if he saw them.

Instead of answering, Alvin just threw Hicca over the railing of the ship and onto the deck in front of them, she hit the floor with a heavy thud and made a small groan in pain, "Jus' remember t' keep 'er mouth covered with that cloth, if she wakes up she'll unleash the full powers of the goddess on ya'."

As Alvin said those words, a handful of soldiers took a step back, remembering what had happened the first time Hicca had released her goddess powers. Two soldiers stepped forward and picked up Hicca before dragging her down to the lower deck, Alvin vaguely wondered what would happen to the young girl, what was Dagur planning on doing in order to get the crystal from her? But he only thought about it for a second before shrugging.

The guard walked over to him and handed him a large bag, "What's this?" Alvin asked cautiously.

"A token of gratitude from chief Dagur, he says that all you have to do now is wait," the guard said. Alvin took the bag and slowly opened it, his eyes widened.

He'd heard rumours of the resources on Berserker Island, but Dagur and most of the previous chiefs were careful not to let the other tribes know about their riches. If the others realised just how bountiful the island was, then it cause even more fighting over the land. But right now Alvin realised the rumours were true... the bag was full of gold coins, Alvin took one out to examine it, it was definitely real.

Alvin smirked evilly and nodded to the soldier, "Pleasure doin' business with ya'," he climbed over the railing and descended the rope ladder to the small row boat bellow, then he started the long journey back to Berk.

In the lower deck of the ship, the guards left Hicca in a holding cell and locked the door. Despite being unconscious it still made some of the other men a little more comfortable to have the goddess locked away. But there were questions buzzing in the minds of several soldiers, they never said anything out loud, but they were all wondering the same thing. Was this little girl really such a threat?

They had heard of her intellect and bravery, but they had also heard that she was a peacekeeper, not a fighter. Dagur obviously wanted the crystal and he had wanted the dragons before that, but his obsession over the girl went much further back. Some of the older soldiers had seen Dagur's infatuation going as far back as their first ever meeting.

Dagur had been eight years old when he accompanied his father to Berk for the first time, and when he first laid eyes on the young four year old girl, his first comment had been about how weak she looked. As their fathers spent the day discussing their peace treaty, Dagur had spent the rest of the day throwing rocks at her and pushing her into the mud, he'd laugh when ever she cried and only left her alone when the girls godfather came to her rescue. No one had really known why he'd done it, maybe he was just bored.

After that first meeting, Dagur was constantly asking father when he could next see Hicca. At first the old chief had been delighted with his son's enthusiasm, it's possible the man was already thinking about marriage. But those thoughts soon shattered as his son started listing off different ways of hurting the younger girl. Many of the soldiers used to think that Dagur was simply teasing the girl to get her attention, but as Dagur's attempts to kill her grew more serious, those ideas were also scrapped.

None of them really knew for sure what Dagur wanted with the girl when they were little, but right now Dagur wanted the crystal. With that in mind, they made sure everything was secure and the ship raised its anchor and unfurled its sail, the mark of their tribe proudly portrayed, the sail's soon picked up a strong western wind and set sail for Berserker Island.

/LINE BREAK/

The next morning on Berk, Stoick knew something was wrong.

He had woken up and gone into Hicca's room to check on Toothless, but he had found the dragon up from his bed and shakily trying to make it down stairs. He looked better than yesterday but still not well enough to be up and moving around, "Whoa, hold on boy, you're still not well enough, you need to go back to bed." The dragon kept trying to get passed him and made deep gurgling sounds, but Stoick soon managed to herd the dragon back to his bed, "What in Thor's name has gotten into you?" the dragon paused for a moment and nodded his head in the direction of Hicca's bed, Stoick finally turned to it and he realised why the dragon was so determined to get out.

Hicca's bed was untouched, she hadn't come home last night.

Now under normal circumstances, that alone wouldn't be that big of a deal, Hicca had spent a couple of nights at the cove with Toothless and accidently fallen asleep there before. But Toothless wasn't with Hicca this time. His first thought was the Berserker ship they had spotted, had Dagur and his men taken his daughter in the night? But surely the watchmen would have noticed something. Berk's security had definitely improved with the help of the dragons, they not only had watchtowers overlooking the sea, but there were also men and dragons patrolling the village at night. It would have been impossible for even one solider to sneak past the dragons.

The other dragon riders had gone out again last night to check on the ship. Surely they would have reported to him if something had happened. Hicca was most likely still on the island, where exactly was another question entirely, "Toothless, just stay here, I'll find her." He promised the dragon. Toothless stared at him for a moment before burbling sadly and lying back down on his bed, Stoick patted Toothless on the head and quickly headed out the door.

The first place he went to was Gobber's forge, he found Gobber happily humming away as he hammered a sword against the anvil. "Gobber!" Stoick yelled in order to be heard over the hammering and Gobbers off tune humming.

Thankfully Gobber stopped and turned, "Ah, Stoick, what brings you 'ere?" He asked casually.

"Have you seen Hicca at all this morning?" Stoick asked quickly.

Gobber looked confused for a moment before answering, "No, I 'aven't, Stoick what's going on? Is she missing?"

"She didn't come home last night, I'm hoping someone has seen her around, maybe she just lost track of time."

"You really think she would leave Toothless alone for so long while 'e's ill?" Gobber questioned already knowing the answer.

"No, but I don't want to think about the alternative right now," Stoick admitted, and Gobber understood. Hicca was a magnet for trouble when it came to the dragons. She had already been kidnapped and involved in several fights, but now the crystal was involved. If Hicca had been kidnapped, then Dagur was the obvious suspect, but how on earth did Dagur get to her? There were so many questions in Stoick's head, but he had to focus. Hopefully Hicca was still on the island, but it seemed undeniable that she was in trouble. Stoick and Gobber gathered the other riders and told them the situation.

"She's missing!?" The twins were the first to raise their voices.

"I'm afraid so, did you see anything strange about the Berserker ship last night?" Stoick asked hopefully.

But the teens shook their heads as Snotlout answered, "It was still in the same place as last time, the crew seemed like it was a little more active, but they still didn't make a move towards Berk while we were watching them."

"To be honest, we were only there for a couple of hours, but if they started sailing after we headed back, they would have been here a little after sunrise," Fishlegs answered a little nervously.

Stoick thought for a moment, completely unaware that the riders had missed Alvin's much smaller boat on the dark waters. "The watchmen would have definitely spotted it if it arrived in the morning," he sighed, maybe the ship really wasn't connected. He turned back to the teens, "Did any of you see Hicca yesterday afternoon?"

Astrid answered, "She came to talk to me and Fishlegs yesterday about taking over lessons at the academy, but that was around midday."

Gobber then piped in, "It was probably just after that when she came over to mine, she most likely went home to give Toothless the medicine after that."

"Did she say anything about what else she needed to do yesterday?" Ruffnut asked worriedly.

"She did say she needed to go over to Alvin's, he's had some trouble with some terrible terrors," Stoick said with concern. He really did want to trust Alvin again, but if it turned out he did have something to do with Hicca's disappearance, it wouldn't really surprise him.

Gobber instantly had a look of distrust on his face, "Why am I not surprised?" He murmured under his breath.

"Let's not throw around blame just yet, let's see what he has to say about his whereabouts last night," Stoick said trying to calm his friend down.

"We're coming too," Astrid said practically jumping forward, but Stoick stopped her.

"Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut will, but I want you and Snotlout to check on the ship again. If it has moved at all then it's very possible that Hicca's been taken to Berserk island, if that happens then I want you to come back and tell me as soon as possible, understand?"

Astrid and Snotlout both nodding and mounted their dragons, then they flew west towards the ships location, the others watched them go before the five humans and two dragons made their way to Alvin's home.

/LINE BREAK/

When they got there they soon realised that Alvin hadn't been lying about the Terrible Terrors, there were now five of them scurrying on Alvin's roof, Fishlegs was the first to spot something off.

"That's quite a number of Terrors, it's normal to see two or three in a group, but I wonder what's attracting this many here."

Stoick also knew something was off. It seemed as though Alvin hadn't been lying about the Terrors, but if Hicca had been here then wouldn't she have done something to stop them? As they reached the front door Stoick raised his fist and knocked loudly, but to their surprise the door opened with a creek.

"Did he forget to lock it or something?" Tuffnut asked from on top of Belch's head.

Gobber's expression turned even more suspicious, "Maybe he left in a hurry."

As Gobber and Stoick entered the house to take a look around, Fishlegs flew Meatlug up to the roof to get a closer look. "Maybe there's something strange about the wood that's attracting the Terrors," he thought out load. Just then Meatlug flew closer to the roof and sniffed heavily, "What is it girl? Do you smell something?"

Out of curiosity Barf and Belch also raised their heads, taking their riders with them. Tuffnut also took a sniff of the planks, "Eww, it smells like Ruff's hair."

Tuffnut laughed a little before Ruffnut punched the back of his head, but Fishlegs's next comment made them both turn, "No, he's right for once. I think the roof's been coated in fish oil."

"But why would Alvin attract Terrors to his house?" Ruffnut asked confused.

"So that he had a reason to get Hicca here," the teens turned to see Gobber and Stoick exiting the house. They both looked worried and then the teens realised why, gripped tightly in Stoick's large hands was Hicca's satchel.

She had been here, and now she and Alvin were missing.

Stoicks expression changed from worried to furious. He had truly believed his old friend had changed, and Stoick had welcomed him back onto Berk, but now Alvin's list of crimes had increased even more so. Alvin had caused Gobber to lose his arm, and he had almost gotten Valka killed, and now he had kidnapped Hicca for the second time. When Stoick got his hands on Alvin, he wouldn't show mercy by simply banishing him.

"Spread the word, I want this entire island searched, don't leave a stone unturned!" He commanded, the teens started flying back to the village with Gobber and Stoick not far behind.

**So there we go, stay tuned to find out what happens to Hicca :) Not to give too much away, but the next few chapters will contain some M rated scenes :/ you have been warned.**

**The explainer: Thanks for that :) It seems obvious now that I think about it**

** .50: Muchas Gracias :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**9****th**** Chapter is here, almost in double digits :D Also, you've possibly noticed my story popping up quite a lot these last few days. That's because I've been updating the previous chapters, just some minor grammar and spelling checkups :) **

**A warning to little ones, not to give too much away, but this chapter is rated M for torture scenes, possible trigger warning :/ **

"**Speaking"**

'_**Thoughts'**_

The Valhalla Crystal

Chapter 9: Pain

On Berk it seemed as though the whole island had been turned upside down in search of Hicca. The villagers were searching anywhere they could think of, the village, the beach, the forest, the cove, everywhere, Fishlegs and the twins were also flying round the island to get a better vantage point. They had even sent people down into the Whispering Death tunnels, but the twists and turns were near impossible to navigate. Thankfully Mildew had taken care of Whispering Deaths for Alvin, even though it had been somewhat against his will, he'd still learnt enough to better navigate their tunnels.

Stoick was obviously worried about his daughter, but it also warmed his heart to see how much everyone cared about Hicca. It still didn't seem that long ago that people were glaring at her for all the trouble she caused. But now they were doing everything in their power to find her, they were genuinely worried about her, some were even making sure that supplies were ready in case she was hurt or trapped somewhere.

Stoick was brought back to reality when Gobber placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. Gobber, Mulch, Bucket and himself were heading up the mountain near Mildew's house, not only to look for Hicca but to also get a better view of the island. The remaining dragon riders were searching over the forest right now, maybe from up here they could see something they'd missed.

"Now's not the time to be spacing out, Stoick. We need to see if we can spot anything from up here," Gobber said. Stoick only nodded and carried on trekking. They arrived at the mountain top and started looking around, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary from the higher view point, they also brought along some of Hicca's spyglasses. But even with their better vantage point, they couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. This was starting to drive Stoick mad, and it seemed he wasn't the only one.

Stoick turned as he heard muttering coming from behind him. Bucket was pacing from one side of the cliff to the other muttering to himself, he seemed to be... counting? Gobber and Mulch also turned to watch Bucket pace.

"Bucket, what are you doing?" Mulch asked his friend.

Bucket didn't answer the question and instead asked one of his own. "Mulch, how many ships does Berk have?"

Stoick and Gobber looked confused. Mulch just sighed, this wasn't the first me he'd been asked this and it wouldn't be the last. "Bucket, Berk has 10 large ships and 20 small row boats in total, why do you ask?"

Bucket finally stopped pacing and stood in the middle of the two spots he'd been going back and forth from. "Well... um..." He seemed to be thinking really hard about something, so Mulch let him think. "There are 10 big ships in the harbour, but only 19 little ones," he said gesturing to the harbour.

That caught the others attention, they rushed over to where they could see the harbour. Just like Bucket had said, there were 10 large ships with the Berk Crest on them, but only 19 small rowboats dotted around them.

"Did anyone say they were going fishing?" Mulch asked.

"No, everyone should still be looking on the island," Stoick answered. He was just as confused as they were.

"Well where's the last one?" Gobber asked. He wasn't expecting an answer but Bucket gave him one anyway.

"It's over here," Bucket was now pointing to the other spot he'd been pacing from.

The others rushed over to look where Bucket had been pointing. On the opposite side of the island from the harbour was a small outcrop of beach, it wasn't connected to the rest of the sands around Berk. And there bobbing in the water tied to a small boulder, was the missing rowboat.

"Well what in Thor's name is it doing over there?" Gobber asked.

"Let's go find out," Stoick said with a serious look on his face. They may have just found Alvin's hiding place, but was Hicca going to be there?

/LINE BREAK/

A little while ago, Astrid and Snotlout reached the location of the ship, or rather... the location where the ship had been.

"Where is it?" Snotlout asked.

"It should be right here," Astrid yelled back. They had flown west for 3 hours, the ship hadn't shown any sign of moving last night, so where was it? "It must have gone back to Berserk,"

"Then we should go after it," Snotlout said, already steering Hookfang west and started heading towards Berserk. But Astrid and Stormfly blocked their path.

"Wait a second!"

"Why? We have to rescue Hicca," Snotlout yelled. Astrid was surprised how worried Snotlout was about his cousin, and to be honest it surprised him too. It was strange to think that after so many years of Snotlouts teasing, their relationship was finally starting to improved. Hicca truly trusted Snotlout now and he seemed to respect her a little more. Not that he'd ever admit it of course.

But right now he was truly concerned, and so was Astrid., "We don't know for sure that Hicca is on the ship, she could still be on the island somewhere," she said calmly.

"So what do we do?" Snotlout asked also trying to stay calm.

Astrid thought for a moment, strategy was Hicca's thing not hers, but right now she had to think. "Alright... You head to Berserk, find out if Hicca is there, and if so where she's being held."

Snotlout looked at her confused, "I was just about to do that, why did you stop me?"

"You can't just fly straight in there! If Hicca is with them and you go charging in then Dagur will think we're on to him and he might do something... drastic."

He was about to ask what, but at the look on Astrid's face he decided not to. Astrid had been raised as a warrior, she was always told stories by her parents about combat and war. She was also told what could happen to prisoners. Astrid knew better than any of them what Hicca might be going through.

"Alright, I'll find out if she's there, what about you?"

"I'll head back to Berk and see if they've found anything, I need to tell the chief about the ship too."

Snotlout gave a nod, "Alright, I'll head back if I don't find anything."

"Don't get caught," She said with a small smile.

Snotlout smiled back, then the two separated. Snotlout and Hookfang flying west to Berserk, and Astrid and Stormfly heading east back to Berk.

/LINE BREAK/

Hicca felt like she had been sleeping for days. Her eye lids were heavy and her body refused to move, but at the same time she was lying in a very uncomfortable position.

She forced herself to at least open her eyes, the world around her was blurred as if surrounded by thick fog. She tried to move but the ringing in her head began, she lay there and tried to make the dizziness stop, she breathed deeply but the air around her was dry and hurt her throat. She tried again to open her eyes, her vision a little less foggy and she could just make out the colours and shape of her room.

Wait... This definitely wasn't a dream... But since when was her room made of brick?

She blinked away the sleep from her eyes and tried to wake herself, she also realised that she was lying on her side on the stone ground, this was definitely not her room. Was this even her island? Her mind was so turned around, she couldn't remember much at all.

Before she could think about it further, she heard someone talking to her.

"Are you finally waking up?" The voice sounded male and arrogant, was Snotlout here too? She tried to move her head to see who it was, but the spinning in her head hit again. She pushed past it and tilted her up to look towards the wall. There was someone standing there, they were too tall to be Snotlout and they were clad in armour, it looked a bit like...

"Are you still tired? Allow me to give you a hand," the figure moved and started moving towards her. Suddenly Hicca felt pain coming from her scalp as the figure dragged her up by her hair. Once she was finally able to support herself on her shaking legs by leaning against the wall, Hicca tried again to clear her vision. It didn't take long this time.

The pain had cleared most of the sleep that clouded her brain, and her vision was now only a little foggy around the edged. But now she wished she hadn't looked. Dagur was standing in front of her, his wicked smirk on his face and an evil glint in his eyes. Hicca looked away from him to instead look around her. She was in a prison cell with thick stone walls surrounding her and a heavy wooden door in the centre of the wall opposite. The room itself was half the size of her bedroom and the only source of light came from a small window in the door. The window was barely bigger than her hand but without it she would have been in complete darkness.

Hicca also became aware of the cold weights around her wrists, she looked down to see thick metal handcuffs around them. Heavy chains were attached to them and connected to a lock on the back wall. She was caught.

"Are you awake now?" Dagur asked impatiently.

Despite the dry air Hicca took a breath to calm herself, panicking would do her no good. In any case she knew what Dagur wanted and he wasn't going to get it, "You're not getting the crystal, Dagur."

Hicca was thankful that her voice didn't shake. Dagur stared at her for a few seconds before he broke out into manic laughter. His laugh always scared her a little, it started of normal but then tapered out into a dead chuckle. He looked at her again with a knowing look. "Of course I will, you should know this by now Hic, it may take me a little while but I always get what I want. And right now I want that crystal. And I know just how to get it."

Hicca's interest peeked at this, did Dagur know how to remove the crystal? She was planning on simply asking Skadi to help her escape, but now it seemed that Dagur knew more about the crystal than she did. "What do you know about the crystal?"

"A lot actually," Dagur said with a smirk. "Unfortunately the crystal hasn't fallen into the hands of the Berserker tribe for decades. But my ancestors did their research ready for when it did. One thing we learnt in particular... is how to extract the crystal from someone." Dagur's smirk grew a little as he reached to his thigh and pulled out a knife.

Hicca stood ready and did her best to stop herself from shaking, she had to be ready to summon Skadi as soon as Dagur made a move. "Are you going to kill me?" She asked trying to sound calm.

But Dagur chuckled again and tossed the knife back and forth between his hands. "Not at all, if the host dies then the crystal is actually destroyed with them, why do you think all the previous hosts had to die of old age? But when the host dies of natural causes the crystal is released on its own. Subtle things like drowning and poisoning will also caused the crystal to be destroyed." Hicca listened and felt herself relax, if what Dagur said was true, then he definitely wouldn't kill her at least.

"But there is a third way to remove the crystal," Dagur continued, his prideful smirk turning into a menacing grin as he stopped throwing the knife and gripped it tightly. "And that's if the god dies instead of the host."

Hicca was startled and confused by that statement, Dagur wasn't going to kill her but Skadi instead? "There's no way you can defeat a goddess. Your far more deranged than I ever thought possible if you truly think you're that strong."

"It's not a question of strength," Dagur lectured her. "It's all about you." Dagur and Hicca stared at each other as Dagur paused before continuing. "I've known you since you were a little girl Hicca, and you haven't changed since then, you still hate asking for help from anyone. Even with a goddess on your side, you still can't do it. I may be deranged, but my skills in combat far surpass anyone else's. I can see the tiniest weakness in a person and strike them down, even when it comes to a goddess swapping places with a human."

"What in Thor's name are you talking about?" Hicca said trying not to raise her voice, but Dagur's insistence on dragging out his lecture was started to irritate her greatly.

Dagur sighed and decided to get to the point. "When you and Skadi swap places, there's a flash of energy as the change takes place. And just after that Skadi's soul then has to join with her body, and that's the moment when I plan to strike her down."

Hicca realised that Dagur was right. "But what does that have to do with me asking for help?"

Dagur sighed in annoyance. "Oh come on, I thought you were clever. Even when you actually ask for Skadi's help there's always going to be a part of you that doesn't want her to intervene, and it's that hesitation that slows down Skadi's soul as it passes through you."

Hicca's mind finally registered what Dagur had said. This was all her fault, if she hadn't been so scared of needing help then Dagur wouldn't have found a weak point, and even as she thought this she realised what Dagur had done. Dagur smirked as he watched Hicca battle with herself. Now that Hicca had that fear it would make her even more worried about summoning Skadi, that would slow Skadi down more and give Dagur an even bigger chance to attack her. And that made Hicca not want to endanger Skadi even more. It was a never ending cycle, and Hicca had fallen right into it.

"H-How do you even know all this?" Hicca asked with a slight tremble in her voice.

"Because, believe it or not, you're not the first person who's been nervous about summoning their god. A long time ago, the chief of the Lava Louts gained the power of the crystal, but he was embarrassed that as a man he had somehow ended up with a female goddess. He hopped never to summon her in battle, and the couple of times he was forced to summon her, she was frozen for a few minutes before her soul reached her body. Needless to say the Bashem Oiks realised this and it wasn't long before their chief stole the power." Dagur's smirk grew as he turned back to Hicca, "Which brings us all the way round to you."

Hicca tried to back away from Dagur, but her back was already against the wall. "W-What are you going to do?"

Dagur came closer, his larger form seemed to trap her on all sides. He raised his knife until it was pressed against her cheek. "I'll make you summon Skadi, and as soon as I have the crystal I won't have any use for you after that, so you'll be free to go. All you have to do is call her."

Hicca knew she was shaking now, but she clenched her fists and gave Dagur her most defiant glare. "I won't let you get the crystal."

The two glared at each other, neither one looking away or even blinking. Dagur was the first to move, his face contorted into a look of anger and he yanked the knife across her cheek. Hicca let out a cry of surprise and pain, a burning cut now running across her left cheek. "You will summon her!" Dagur yelled, "I'll make you feel so much pain you'll be begging for her help," he promised.

Dagur reached behind her and unlock the chain from the wall, the chain itself still connected to Hicca's wrists. Dagur pulled her towards the centre of the room by her chains and reach up to the ceiling. There was a small hook in the ceiling which Hicca hadn't noticed before, Dagur could just reach the hook and attached Hicca's chain to it, her arms now held above her head and forcing her to stand on her toes.

There was no way she could do anything in this position, that's most likely why Dagur was smiling so much. He started circled her like a shark, taking his time to decide where to cut next. He decided on the back of her legs first, starting just above her boot he cut a line all the way up to the back of her knee. It was shallow, but Hicca still cried out again. This was so much fun for him.

Suddenly there was another voice in Hicca's head. 'What in Odin's name are you doing!? Hurry up and summon me!'

Hicca did her best to not let it show that Skadi was present, she couldn't allow her to be attacked by Dagur. 'Skadi, please stay out of it.'

'You expect me to just watch!?'

Dagur made a shallow cut along her arm, Hicca grit her teeth so as not to cry out. 'I don't want you getting hurt, just stay back!'

As she said those words, several walls formed in Hicca's mind and blocked Skadi out. She wouldn't allow Dagur anywhere near her, she would not give into him.

Dagur continued leaving cuts across her legs, arms, stomach and back. He had cut away her fur vest in order to get to her back, he shredded it in front of her to show just how sharp the knife was. Every now and then Dagur would let out a childish laugh, he was having fun causing her pain like this.

After the first hour of this, Hicca was already in so much pain. Dagur asked her again if she wanted to call on Skadi for help. But she refused. This angered him more, his shallow cuts became deeper and caused her to scream more.

After the fifth hour Dagur finally stopped, this had become boring for him now. He unhooked her chain and allowed her to drop to the floor. Her entire body squirmed in pain as it hit the ground hard, her legs unable to support her anymore. She cried out again as he dragged her over to the wall and attached the chains there again. Then he left.

Hicca was allowed to rest now, she didn't move from her sprawled out position. She didn't need to, she could feel every one of Dagur's marks. The first one on her cheek now had another crossing through it from her nose to the bottom of her ear, there were cuts across both shoulder blades, over the top of her shoulder to her collar bone. Her arms were a mess of slashes running both along the length of her arms and also around them in bloody bracelets, there was a long shallow slice running across the length of her spine and several nicks at her sides running just under her ribcage. Her stomach and lower back had random marks that were small but deep, there was a hack across her hip and another mess of scores running down both legs.

Dagur had gotten very creative a few times. He had cut under her chin and across her raised palms. He had even taken off her boot and tossed it to the other side of the cell before slicing at the bottom of her foot. Her clothes were a mess of holes and blood, she was thankful that they were still holding together. The cuts were plentiful but fortunately it wouldn't be enough for her to bleed to death. The cuts were specifically placed to cause pain not death, Dagur had made sure of that.

Hicca could feel tears gathering in her eyes. She painfully curled into a ball and breathed to calm herself. It hurt but the pain would leave eventually. In the meantime she had to be strong, she wouldn't call on Skadi, she would not allow Dagur to defeat her. No matter what pain he put her through.

**So... let me know what you think, find out what happens to Hicca and her friends in the next chapter, see ya :) **


	10. Chapter 10

**10****th**** Chapter, Yahoo, double digits :D Thank you so much to everyone for reading and enjoying the story so far :) Again this chapter is rated M, possible trigger warning :/ **

"**Speaking"**

'_**Thoughts'**_

The Valhalla Crystal

Chapter 10: Found

It had been 6 hours since Astrid and Snotlout left Berk to check on the Berserker ship, and about 16 hours since Hicca was taken. But now they were making progress.

Stoick, Gobber, and a group of soldiers were now rowing round towards the isolated beach, accompanied by Fishlegs and the twins on their dragons. As they rounded an outcrop of rock they saw the missing row boat. They also saw a giant cave opening.

"Do you think this connects to the Whispering Death tunnels?" Fishlegs asked as he rode Meatlug alongside the boats.

"It's possible. But unlike the other tunnels, that cave looks natural." Gobber said as they approached the sands.

"So maybe this is where Alvin planted the eggs," Ruffnut thought out loud.

Stoick agreed with her. Alvin had grown up on this island just like he had, it's very possible he knew about every blind spot on the island. When this was all over he'd make sure the watch tower nearby was finished.

As the boats beached and the dragons landed, they slowly entered the tunnel. Belch sparked his tongue and Meatlug carried lava in her mouth to give them some light as they travelled deeper. They saw the remains of Whispering Death egg shells that littered the floor, suddenly Stoick heard something and raised his fist to signal everyone to halt. Everyone listened, just underneath the sounds of the sea behind them, they could just make out some quite mumbling. Someone was down here. Stoick readied his sword and slowly advanced.

As they rounded a corner they saw a light at the end of the tunnel, the mumbling was also louder they could just make out the broken accent and gravely tone. Alvin was definitely down here, but who was he talking to?

They quickly but quietly closed in. When they were just close enough Stoick peered round the corner. He spotted Alvin, but to his surprise the person Alvin had been talking to was a Whispering Death. He knew it was possible for Alvin to have learnt how to train dragons using the Book of Dragons but he never thought he'd actually succeed. There was a small torch hanging from one of the walls, but even with its light Stoick couldn't spot Hicca in the cavern. By the looks of it Alvin was loading the Whispering Death's saddle bags to make a quick getaway. Stoick wasn't about to let that happen. He held his hand up and counted down on his fingers, as he got closer to zero the other Vikings and dragons prepared to attack.

With a sudden battle cry the Vikings and dragons flooded the cavern. Alvin as taken completely by surprise, but that didn't mean he was giving up without a fight, "Spike! Sick 'em!"

The Whispering Death, so called 'Spike', turned and glared at the attackers. With the sound of a thousand tiny whispers its serrated teeth started to turn as it hurtled towards the Vikings. Thankfully the riders had been ready. Meatlug suddenly flew in from the side and threw all of her body weight at Spike.

"Atta girl, Meatlug!" Fishlegs cheered.

Spike hit the wall hard but was only dazed, he shook himself to clear his head and turned back towards them.

"Barf, gas him!" Ruffnut roared from atop the dragon's head. At her command Barf let out a stream of sickly green gas, it surrounded Spike and the rancid smell made him writhe and twist trying to get the smell out of his sinuses. In his state he didn't realise that he was heading straight for his master. Alvin dived out of the way as his dragon hurtled towards him. Spike ran headfirst into the wall and this time it was a hard enough hit to keep him down, he slumped to the ground and let out a pitiful whimper.

Alvin was just about to get up from where he'd landed, but he suddenly found a sword point only a hair's width away from his neck. He slowly tilted his head up to see the owner of the sword. He wasn't surprised to see it was Stoick.

The chief's eyes alive with fire, and the look of hatred and betrayal clear on his face. When he spoke his tone was commanding and powerful. "Where. Is. My. Daughter?"

Everything paused. For a moment it seemed like Alvin wouldn't answer. But then he gave a sigh, he'd already lost, no need to keep up the secrets. "You're too late Stoick, she's already on Berserker Island."

"Impossible, it takes a day and night to sail between these two islands, and their ship didn't get anywhere close to the island." Stoick argued, bringing his blade slightly closer to Alvin's throat.

"Ha, those watchmen and teens were so busy watching out for the ship they didn't notice me rowboat in the middle of the night, not t' mention there was a strong westward wind when I left them. If it kept up they should 'ave reached Berserk quite a while ago."

As the teens listened to Alvin they remembered the winds he spoke of, they had been fighting against them on their return flight. Strong winds like that would be enough to cut journey time by ship down by quite a few hours. Stoick looked over to the teens and saw the three of them giving worried looks. So Alvin was telling the truth, then he didn't have time to deal with him right now. He lowered his sword and holstered it, but before Alvin could give a sigh of relief Stoick's fist came crashing into his cheek. The blow was enough to send Alvin crashing to the ground and out cold, the teens and some of the other Vikings took a step back at Stoick's fearsomeness.

"Get him and his dragon locked up, we'll deal with them when we get back." He ordered, then he turned to the teens. "Round up everyone on the island and tell them to get ready, we'll prepare the ships and set sail for Berserk as soon as possible."

"Right, chief!" The teens mounted their Dragons and took off through the tunnels. The other Vikings started tying up Alvin and his dragon and began moving them towards the cave entrance. Stoick stood still for a moment. Hicca had been kidnapped before, but the only time she'd been imprisoned by Dagur, Stoick had been there as well, with just Hicca and Dagur on their own... what would happen to her?

When Fishlegs and the twins exited the cave they started flying towards the forest, it covered most of the southern part of the island and most of the villagers had been sent to search it. If they were going to spread the news as fast as possible then that would be the place to start. But as they started flying up the cliff face, they saw a figure fly over head. A distinct Deadly Nadder shaped figure.

"Hey, Astrid!" Fishlegs called out.

Luckily Astrid heard him and halted Stormfly in her flight. "Fishlegs, did you find anything?"

"Yeah, Alvin was the one who kidnapped Hicca. He took her in a rowboat to the Berserk ship, it didn't need to come anywhere near Berk." Fishlegs said once he and the twins were close enough.

"How were we supposed to spot a tiny rowboat in the middle of the night anyway," Tuffnut complained.

"I'm guessing that was the point. I only came back to tell the chief that the ships no longer there, but I guess that's redundant now." Astrid said sadly, she couldn't help but feel responsible.

"Hey, where's Snotlout, he didn't get lost did he?" Ruffnut asked, noticing that the large Nightmare and its annoying rider weren't with Astrid.

"We didn't know for sure if Hicca was on the ship or not, so Snotlout went to check out Berserker Island. Maybe he can find where she's being held."

"We need to round everyone up, the chief's ordered the ships to set sail as soon as possible." Tuffnut said.

"But the winds have died down now, it'll still take a whole day and night to reach Berserk." Astrid pointed out. She didn't want to be the bearer of bad news, but someone had to point it out.

"This would be so much easier if everyone just used dragons," Ruffnut grumbled.

"That's it!" Fishlegs suddenly said in excitement

"Um, no offense Fishlegs, but I really don't think we have the time to train everyone on the island to ride dragons." Tuffnut said, obviously confused by his excitement.

"They don't need to. We just need to get as many dragons as possible to pull the ships. With their combined strength, we should be able to cut the travel time down by half." Fishlegs answered, still excited that they now had a way to rescue Hicca quicker.

Astrid and the twins were soon exited too. "Well what are we waiting for? Gather the villagers and as many dragons as you can find," Astrid ordered. With that the riders separated.

/LINE BREAK/

On Berserk, Hicca sat in the corner of her cell, her muscles ached but thankfully the pain from the cuts had died down to slight stings. She wasn't sure how long Dagur had been gone. She had no way of knowing what time of day it was. She gathered that since the only lights source came from the torches outside her cell, she must be underground.

She hadn't heard from Skadi since last time they'd spoken. That was good, it meant that she was listening to Hicca and not getting too close to the surface. If she did that then Hicca was more likely to break and summon her. That couldn't happen. For all she knew Dagur was just outside her door waiting for her to summon Skadi so that he could strike. But as the idea crossed Hicca's mind she realised how ridiculous it sounded. Dagur wasn't patient enough to wait for anything. Not to mention he was a chief and had an entire tribe to command. There's no way he as just sitting outside her cell waiting for her to break.

She wasn't thinking straight, she felt so drained all she wanted to do was sleep. Even as the words crossed her mind she felt her muscles grow heavier, and her eye lids droop. But she couldn't sleep now... she had to stay awake... stay awake...

It didn't help. Sleep overtook her completely and her body finally found release from the pain.

But it didn't last long. After what seemed like only a few seconds, a cold bucket of water was thrown over her. Hicca instantly jolted her awake and shook as the cold crept through her skin.

"I guess I didn't give you enough yesterday if you're relaxed enough to sleep." Dagur glared down at her as he dropped the now empty bucket, making Hicca jump at the loud clang. He pulled her by her hair again until she was kneeling in front of him. For a while Dagur just looked at her. The way he stared unnerved her, so she looked at the floor instead of his eyes.

But his next words surprised her. "Your hair's too long."

He said it so casually, as if his insult wasn't taking place in a dungeon he had tortured her in earlier. Again Hicca didn't respond, so Dagur took action. He reached behind her head and viciously yanked away the fabric strip she used to tie her hair back. As her hair fell to reach her waist Dagur suddenly grabbed a small chunk of hair, then he pulled out his knife again and sliced right through the strands of auburn hair, he threw the discarded locks behind him and grabbed another random chunk.

In Hicca's mind this was just as bad as the cuts from before. It didn't hurt, but with each slice of his knife Dagur was cutting away more of her. She had heard of this being done in war before, the cutting of hair and beards for Vikings was like taking away part of their identity. Now Dagur was cutting at her hair just as he had done to her body earlier.

When Dagur was finally done, he stood back to admire his work. The auburn hair used to reach her waist, but now it was chopped unevenly. Her hair now went from barely brushing the tops of her shoulders to just below her ear lobes.

"There, now it won't get in the way." Dagur said with a smirk. He undid her chains from the wall and hung them from the ceiling hook, she was once again forced to stand with her arms held above her. It hurt to have her muscles stretched again but now she also feared what Dagur had planned next, why did he want to see her face?

Then he left.

Hicca thought for a moment that Dagur was just planning on leaving her there. But then he returned with a torch in hand.

Hicca's body shook as she started to get an idea of what Dagur had planned. "I'm giving you another chance to summon Skadi," he said as he held the torch close to her face. The flames practically licking at her cheeks, "What do you say?"

Hicca turned her face away, trying to get away from the flame. "I won't summon her," she said despite her obvious shaking.

Dagur sighed in annoyance, but thankfully he pulled the torch away and placed it in a holder on the wall opposite. Then he pulled out a long metal rode and held in the flame, once the metal turned and ominous glowing red he turned back to Hicca. She was desperately trying to back away as Dagur approached her, but with her arms bound and only her toes able to touch the ground, she really couldn't do much at all. Once Dagur was right in front of her he reached up to one of her sleeves. After all the slicing he had done yesterday, Hicca's tunic already had gaping holes and tears in it. So when he yanked on the material, the sleeve easily ripped apart from the main body, exposing the soft underside of her upper arm.

Hicca turned her head away and shut her eyes tightly waiting for the pain. Then the metal was pressed against her skin.

The searing pain was far worse than the cuts. When he had cut her, the pain followed along the line left by Dagur's knife and eventually only left a slight sting. But this burning made her scream. As a blacksmith she'd been burnt before, it had become second nature to drop whatever was burning her and apply cold water. But Dagur held the metal against her skin for as long as he wanted to, the heat penetrated deep into her muscles and made her skin sizzle. When Dagur finally moved the metal away, an angry mark was left behind. Hicca could already feel tears building in her eyes, and Dagur had only just started.

Dagur went back to the torch and held the rode over the flames again. This time when it was hot enough he pulled at her tunic to expose her stomach, he then pressed the rod against her belly. She screamed out in pain again as the tears started running. The next one went to her lower back. Then he tore away part of her leggings and burnt her inner thigh. The fifth burn came to her stomach again crossing over the first one. Her screams grew louder as Dagur's smirk grew wider.

"...Please... stop..."

It was barely above a whisper but Dagur heard it. "What was that?" He reached out and pulled at her hair, forcing her to look at him. He planned on playing with her more. "If you want me to stop then I will."

Her shaking stopped and her eyes grew wide, was he actually going to stop? "All you have to do is transform, and I'll stop all of your pain."

Hicca kicked herself for being so stupid. Of course Dagur wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted. He was just playing with her, making it seem as though she had a choice. Dagur waited for her answer, but all she did was shake her head.

Dagur clenched his fist so hard it started to shake slightly. "How can you be so damn stubborn!?" He punched her across the cheek and brought the other hand around her throat, he squeezed slightly and forced her to look at him. "You have the power to end all of your pain right here and now. All you have to do is transform, so why are you still not doing it!?"

Hicca blinked away her tears and took a deep breath before answering. She looked him in the eye and glared defiantly. "I won't let you... I won't let you use the crystals power to hurt my people... You might as well kill me!" She screamed.

The only word to describe Dagur's expression, would be complete and utter shock. How in Hel's name was this small and pathetic little bitch still standing against him!? Dagur flew into a rage at that point, he dropped the metal rode and instead started using Hicca like his personal punching bag. Laying his fists into her stomach, chest and face until he finally wore himself out.

He stood back panting. He hadn't even realised that during his frenzy he had knocked Hicca unconscious. She looked absolutely wrecked and broken but she still wasn't giving in. This only made him angrier. He pulled her chains down from the ceiling hook and let her drop to the floor, he kicked her in the stomach a few more times for good measure. He then glared at her bruised and cut face, there was blood coming from her nose and mouth but luckily she was still breathing raggedly.

He chained her to the wall again and left her there. She wouldn't be able to do anything for a while anyway.

**So everything's finally ready to rescue Hicca, but Dagur isn't finished yet, find out what happens in the next chapter.**

**Yukari Fudo: Everything's ready to rescue Hicca, still a way to go though. And I have an idea about the ending, but I'm not sure if it will actually happed yet. Keep reading to find out :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**11****th**** Chapter, this chapter isn't as bad as the ones before, but still possible triggers so be warned :/**

"**Speaking"**

'_**Thoughts'**_

The Valhalla Crystal

Chapter 11: Agreeable

The docks were buzzing with people. The ships were prepared, weapons and supplies were stocked, and the catapults were readied for battle.

The teens had managed to round up all of their dragon's offspring to help pull the ships, the sky and cliffs around the docks were filled with adolescent Monstrous Nightmares, Deadly Nadders, Hideous Zipplebacks and Gronckles. Despite having only been born a little over 2 years ago, most of the young dragons were already very large. Soon Gobber had plenty of harnesses made ready for the dragons to pull the ships, they only things left to prepare were the Vikings themselves.

Most of them knew to be ready for battle, but they didn't know what Hicca's condition. All they knew Dagur had either gotten the crystal from her, or he was making her suffer. Most of them hated to consider the later, but it's one of the many things that happened in war. The entire villager's opinion of Hicca had changed so dramatically in only a couple of years. They used to see her as nothing but a mistake, a weak little girl who seemed nothing like her father. While he stood tall and proud leading a tribe of fierce Vikings, she was small and didn't act like a Viking at all. Some of them honestly feared what would happen if she did become the next chief.

But then she changed everything. Despite the way they treated her, she had saved them. She'd formed a bond that went against everything they knew, and had ended a war that at times seemed hopeless. But she hadn't stopped there. She had fought for her tribe and protected her people on more than one occasion, and she had put herself in harm's way more time than they could count. But thought out all of it, she had stayed kind, fair and compassionate. She was the pride of the village, and after everything she had done for them, they planned on doing everything in their power to save her.

Stoick had made sure that everything was ready. He had double and triple checked everything, there was no way they were coming back without Hicca. But there was one problem, it seemed that some of the adolescent dragons were becoming restless. The dragon riders were doing their best but a couple of the Zipplebacks and Nightmares were already starting to annoy one another, and with two of the riders gone it seemed like too much for the four teens to handle. But just when it seemed like a fight was about to break out, there came a deafening roar and the dragons stopped dead in their tracks. Everyone look up from the docks to see a large ebony dragon creeping along the cliff.

Toothless jumped down from the cliff and growled at the younger dragons. Despite some of them being bigger than Toothless, they all backed away and flew back into their ranks. With the other dragon now much more docile, Toothless galloped across the pear to the main ship and jumped aboard, he stationed himself at the front of the ship and sat back on his haunches looking out over the sea.

As everyone went back to work, Stoick looked at Toothless for a little while before turning to Spitelout. "Could you take over for a moment?"

"Sure," His brother in law answered.

Stoick trudged up the gang plank and walked to stand beside Toothless. They both just stared out over the ocean for a little while before Stoick spoke, "We will get her back."

There was no hesitation in Stoick's voice. Toothless turned to him and gave him a quick nod before turning back to the ocean, but Stoick noticed the small falter in his features. Toothless seemed to be frowning inwardly, his gaze now shifting to the deck at his paws. Stoick didn't understand dragons as well as Hicca did, but he knew that look. "It wasn't your fault." Toothless jumped slightly in surprise and turned to Stoick again. "You couldn't help that you were ill. Yes, things may have been different if you were there, but we can't change the past now. Right now, we need to focus on getting to Berserk Island and getting our girl back."

Toothless seemed to stare at Stoick with wide eyes before his features turned back into a determined look. He nodded his head again this time more firmly and rubbed his head against Stoick arm before turning back to the ocean. He didn't just do it to thank Stoick for his words of reassurance, he also did it as his way of telling Stoick the same thing. Stoick did blame himself. When Hicca told him yesterday that she was going to Alvin's, there had been a stray thought at the back of his mind. 'Don't let her go alone.' But he had ignored it, and now his pride and joy had been taken away from him yet again.

But placing blame would have to wait. As Spitelout called out to Stoick that everything was ready, Stoick turned and look over the ships. All of his best fighters were ready on the ships, and the dragons were prepared to take off.

"Release the dragons!" On Stoick's command, all of the dragons took to the sky the ropes attached to their harnesses. Five dragons to a ship, with the remaining dragon riders in front to lead the way, they soon picked up speed and headed west.

The dragons were already moving much faster than he had anticipated. With the added weight of the ships and soldiers, Stoick had assumed that their pace would be slowed down. But it was almost the opposite. It seemed as though the collective determination to rescue Hicca was passed to the dragons and their offspring, the air was filled with the sound of hundreds of strong beating wings. It would still be a while, but they would get to Berserk much quicker than they'd hopped.

/LINE BREAK/

On Berserk, Dagur was becoming impatient.

Hicca still hadn't given into him and it was becoming infuriating. How had she been able to last this long? Was the crystal giving her strength or something? He sat back in the large chair in his home and lazily stabbed his knife into the armrest, he dragged the metal along the vein of the wood and watched as small shavings fell to the ground. In his head he was imagining it was Hicca, he wanted so badly to cut her open more and watch as her blood gushed out. But he wanted her alive. He wanted the crystals power, and he wanted to make her watch as he rained down terror and death on her home, and then the entire archipelago.

He had always wanted what she had. Now was his chance to have it, but she was still getting in his way. She never gave him what he wanted, the crystal, the dragons... he father.

Dagur winced as the thought entered his head, he hadn't thought about that in a long time. He had always favoured Stoick the Vast over his own father, it wasn't fair that a strong chief like Stoick was wasting his time with Hicca. If Dagur had been his son, he would have made the man proud.

When he was young, he had heard others talk about the great chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe. Stoick the Vast, a strong and powerful chief who had led his tribe to being one of the most feared in the entire archipelago. When he was a boy, Dagur thought that if Hicca died then there was a chance he could take her place. He'd get that father he really wanted and Stoick would have the son he wanted. But it never happened.

Dagur wasn't jealous, he just wanted Hicca to die. He wanted things to be different. He wanted his father to go away. Dagur's father was a much older than Stick, his will to fight had left him long ago. he seemed more of a diplomat now. But the man also had his tricks, the tricks that had earned him his name.

Oswald the Agreeable.

It sounded tame, it didn't strike fear into the hearts of men, but it did hide his secret. They said he was agreeable, they never said he was kind.

Oswald agreed that what he was doing was inhumane, he agreed that it was disgraceful for a Viking to resort to this, and he would only agree to make his victim's pain stop once they told him everything he needed to know. Dagur's father had been a master at torture.

It was a dark secret. Almost all of chiefs agree not to use torture anymore, they didn't want any of their citizens going through that, so they agreed not to do it to any of their prisoners. Instead, the powerful Viking chiefs used sword and intimidation to get their way, not needles and burning pokers. To the other tribes Oswald seemed like a peacekeeper, who always agreed to whatever the other chiefs put in their stupid little treaties. They thought that was the reason behind his name.

It was because these stupid superficial appearances, that Dagur had to say goodbye to his younger sister. All because of some silly offhanded comments that daughters weren't important. All because he wanted to keep up his appearance, Oswald had agreed with them and gotten rid of his own daughter and wife. Dagur's sister was only a few years old, barely big enough to carry her shield, and Oswald had sent them away of a small boat never to be seen again. Dagur hadn't been able to do anything, he'd tried everything to find them, but they were gone.

Dagur was then left alone with his father, and since the age of 7, he was used as his father's human test subject for his torture techniques. Oswald pushed Dagur to his absolute limits every day, making him cry and beg for the pain to stop. But Oswald wouldn't kill his own son like he had with his other victims, there would be too many questions asked. In the end it had broken him.

At age 16 Dagur had snapped and chopped his father to pieces. In his dying words, Oswald had said that Dagur was deranged.

Dagur agreed.

Now that he was chief, Dagur didn't want Stoick anymore. Instead he'd wanted the trained dragons he'd heard so much about. But once again, Hicca wouldn't give them to him. And now she was doing the same with the crystal. Dagur hated himself for using such techniques on her, but he wanted the crystal so badly and he couldn't kill Hicca, this was the only other thing he could think of.

Dagur took a breath to try and calm himself, before the memories caught up to him and tore open old wounds. He finally retracted his knife, seeing the large gouge he'd made in the wood. He didn't want to think about his father anymore, he didn't want to think about Stoick either, or the dragons. Just Hicca. She was what he wanted.

He knew he was running out of time. The longer this dragged on, the more time Hicca's tribe had to come rescue her. He had to break her, but how? He had left marks all over her body, but marks could fade, was she able to hold on because she knew the pain wouldn't be permanent?

So what would be permanent? What could he do to her that would scar her for the rest of her life?

And then he knew.

The one torture his father had never used on him.

The one that she would never heal from.

/LINE BREAK/

It was almost sunset when Snotlout finally arrived at Berserk.

He flew high in the clouds so that he wouldn't be seen, before swooping down behind the mountain side. He found a small ledge on the mountain side and directed Hookfang towards it. Once they landed, Snotlout slowly climbed up the cliff face and lay flat on the upper ledge and looked over the edge. It didn't seem as though anyone had spotted him.

From his vantage point he could see most of the village on Berserk island, he wasn't sure if the village had a name like Berk, but right now it didn't matter. The village was almost twice the size of Berk with thick trees growing around the perimeter, the village stood on a gentle slope that lead down to the long stretch of beach where a lot of large ships were anchored. Snotlout doubted that was the entirety of Dagur's armada, but he couldn't see much else with the trees and cliffs blocking his view. Around the edges of the island were high watch towers, they were almost as tall as Snotlouts perch, he scooted back a bit so that he was more concealed behind the rocks. Then he noticed something.

Just at the edge of the Berserk village, before the line of trees began, was a small stone structure. It almost looked like a well, but it square shaped with only three sides instead of four. And instead of a large hole leading down to the water, there was a flight of stairs. There were two guards stationed just outside of the entrance, why would Dagur post guards to watch a hole in the ground? He looked over the village again and compared it to Berk. He didn't see any prison cells, none of the buildings had bars across the window or heavy metal doors. If the holding cells on Berserk weren't above ground... maybe they were below ground. Then that hole in the ground was an entrance, leading to the underground prison.

Snotlout almost patted himself on the back for being so clever, but he soon snapped out of it when he spotted Dagur stomping towards the entrance. The guards immediately straightened the posture and allowed him to pass, Dagur trudged down the stairs and into the darkness bellow.

Snotlout turned and skidded down the cliff face to where Hookfang was waiting for him, he quickly mounted and they took off to the other side of the forest. Flying low so that Hookfang was almost touching the water with his belly, they stayed close to the island so that the trees and cliffs hid them from the towers, then they landed on a small section of beach. Instead of staying out in the open, Snotlout lead Hookfang into the tree line and off the sands. Hookfang had to keep very low and pull his wings tight against his body to squeeze through the trees, but they managed to hide a not far from the prison entrance.

"Ok, this should be close enough. Stay here boy, I'm going to check it out." Hookfang gave a quiet gurgle and watched as Snotlout tiptoed forward and peeked through the bushes. They were a couple of meters behind the entrance and the guards at the edge of the tree line. There was no way he'd be able to get passed the guards, if Snotlout was going to get anywhere near that entrance he'd have to wait till either night fall, or till one of the guards left. Snotlout stepped back and thought for a second, if he could get rid of one of them he'd have a shot at getting past the other.

But for now, all they could do was wait.

/LINE BREAK/

Hicca sat curled up on the hard ground, trying to think everything through but at the same time not wanting to remember.

Everything hurt. Her arms, legs, back, front. She ran her hand into her now short hair, in a flash she remembered the way Dagur had cut, burned and hit her. How he had pulled at her hair and cut it away until it barely reached her shoulder anymore. Right now she was more scared than she had ever been before. She was in more pain than she'd ever been before. She felt so alone.

But Dagur wasn't finished yet, there was more to come.

As she heard Dagur's footsteps coming closer, she pulled her knees closer to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself and buried her head in them. She heard the door unlock and open with a loud creak, she could feel Dagur's eyes on her and herd him smirk. Then she jumped as a loud clang sounded near her, she slowly looked up to see a canteen on the floor near her foot.

"You should drink some water, we wouldn't want you getting dehydrated now, would we?" Dagur smirked again. At first Hicca thought this was another torture method, offering her water and then ripping it away from her. She would have refused, but she hadn't had anything to drink since she'd arrived on the island, and the dry air was making her throat feel raw.

She decided to risk it. Despite the pain, Hicca slowly reached out for the canteen while keeping her eyes on Dagur, but he just stood there and watched her. She undid the lid and took a small sip to make sure it was in fact water, when she confirmed that it was she gulped it down greedily, allowing the liquid to sooth her throat.

She heard Dagur chuckle at her and quickly composed herself. Then he threw her a rag towards her, "Clean your face too, you're a mess."

"Whose fault is that?" Hicca asked under her breath, wincing at how raw her voice still sounded. This was very strange, Dagur had to be up to something. Again, while keeping her eyes on Dagur, she reached for the rag. She wiped away most of the blood and dirt from her face, the rough fabric hurt a little on her skin, but wiping the blood away made her feel a lot better.

She turned back to Dagur. "What are you up to Dagur? I thought for sure you were going to beat me some more?" She knew Dagur wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted, so why was he allowing her to drink and clean her face?

"I want to be able to see your face," Dagur said casually. This was really starting to worry her. He wanted to see her expression so badly, what kind of torture was he planning?

But then Dagur did his usual thing, removing the chains from the wall and hanging her from the ceiling hook. But he didn't reach for his knife or anything, he just stood there and stared at her hanging form. In a way Dagur's silence was even more terrifying than his violent actions. He slowly raised his hand and touched the bruise on her cheek, making her flinch as he touched the tender flesh. "Pretty soon your tribe will realise that you're here and will come to save you, so I'm going to break you now and finish this. You've held up quite well considering, I must say I'm surprised."

Hicca tried to move away from his touch, but her chains prevented her from moving. Hicca desperately wished she could cover herself, with the amount of holes in her clothes and the way Dagur was staring, she felt on display. "W-What are you going to do, Dagur?" She asked trying not to shake.

Dagur slowly ran his hand from her cheek and ran it through her hair, before grapping a fistful and yanking her head back. She winced a little but did her best not to cry out. "I realised that the reason you've been able to hold on this long is because I've been too soft on you. Bruises and cuts will heal and your hair will grow back eventually." Dagur stepped a little closer, forcing her to look at him. "I'm going to give you one last chance. Summon Skadi so I can get the crystal and all this will be over."

"No, I won't let you get the crystal." Hicca said one again.

Dagur sighed, "Fine."

Hicca grew more scared as Dagur's grin became more menacing. He moved his hand from her hair to her belt and tugged at it slightly, "W-What are you doing?" Dagur ignored her, he quickly undid her belt before throwing it behind him where her boot still lay. Then he turned back to her and moved closer, almost close enough to smell the fear dripping off her.

"You know, I was actually hoping that I wouldn't have to resort to this," he confessed as he placed his hand on her hip. "But you just wouldn't give in. By the end of this, whether it's the crystal or part yourself, you will lose something you won't be able to get back."

Dagur ran his hand down her thigh to the edge of her tunic and slowly began to pull it up. Hicca's brain ran wild trying to decipher Dagur's words. He wasn't going to hurt her in any normal way this time, and he wasn't reaching for a weapon, so he probably wasn't about to take one of her limbs. What part of her was he going to take that she couldn't get back?

Then it clicked.

Dagur clearly felt that just hurting her wasn't enough anymore. He wanted her to feel shame, fear and pain all at once.

Hicca promised herself she wouldn't give in, she had to stay strong. But if Dagur was planning on doing what she thought he was going to do... would she be able to hold on?

**Things are going to get very heavy in the next chapter.**

**Yukari Fudo: Gotta say, I love your enthusiasm :) **


	12. Chapter 12

**12****th**** Chapter. Finally reached 10 reviews, thank you so much to everyone :), this chapter is rated M, definite trigger warnings :/**

"**Speaking"**

'_**Thoughts'**_

The Valhalla Crystal

Chapter 12: Almost

On the Hooligan ships, they still had a way to go until they reached Berserk.

Gobber was kept busy sharpening swords and axes, every now and again he would turn to look out over the ocean. He had sharpened most of the weapons back on Berk before they left, he was just doing it now to kill time. Like everyone else on board, he was worried about Hicca.

He knew she was tough, much tougher than most people realised, but Dagur was vicious. He'd seen the kind of things Dagur did to Hicca when they were children, trying to drown her, leaving her in the woods at night, causing an avalanche to fall on her. Gobber didn't tell Stoick about the extent of Dagur's attempts, for fear it would cause a fight between the two tribes. But there had been one time that really stuck with Gobber, back when Hicca was 8 and Dagur had been 12. Dagur had locked her in the arena, back when it had been the killing ring, he had then pulled the lever to release the Monstrous Nightmare.

When the dragon flew out of its cage, Hicca barely had a chance to react. Thankfully the dragon flew up to the cage roof of the arena, giving Hicca a chance to hide behind a stack of weapons, she grabbed a shield and hid behind it. She had been so small back then, a single shield was big enough to hid her entire body. But the dragon could smell her, with its beady eyes it scanned the arena looking for the source of the human smell.

By this point even the berserker guards wanted to help the young girl, but Dagur had order them not to. So instead they stood next to Dagur and watched with him, silently hoping for the girl's survival. Most of the villagers and other Vikings had heard the commotion by this point, it didn't take long for them to realise the dragon wasn't alone in there. The nightmare ripped apart one of the displays clawed through the wreckage before continuing its search, little did it know that it was getting closer to Hicca's hiding spot.

That was when Gobber finally showed up, and it didn't take him long to piece together what happened. He saw the Nightmare, the locked gate, Hicca shivering behind a shield, and Dagur cackling like mad. Instinct took over, he ran to the gate and forced them open before he charged in with a bellowing battle cry. The dragon turned and narrowed its eyes at Gobber, it reared back and spewed a long stream of fire in Gobber's direction. But even with one leg, Gobber was a fierce fighter, and was able to dodge and continue his charge. When he was close enough to the beast, he swung his hammer hand and hit the dragon square in the jaw. As the dragon stumbled, Gobber delivered two more hits in quick succession.

The dragon finally seemed to realise he wouldn't win against the large Viking, with an annoyed growl it trudged back to his cage. Gobber followed and shut the door behind it, he slid the wooden beam back into place and locked the door. With things finally calmed down Gobber plodded over to the still shivering shield, he slowly lifted it to see Hicca curled up tightly underneath, her eyes squeezed shut with her arms coving her head.

"It's alright, lassie. You're safe now." He said in his softest possible tone.

When she finally turned to look up at him Gobber's heart almost broke, her tiny body was shaking terribly and her face was red and tear soaked. She jumped up and gripped tightly to him as Gobber lifted her into his beefy arms and carried her out of the arena. Thankfully, aside from a few scrapes and being absolutely terrified, she was alright. When Stoick and Oswald had finally showed up, they had demanded to know what had happened. Gobber hadn't told them much, he just told them to ask Dagur.

Of course Dagur had lied and said that Hicca had gotten herself locked in the arena, and when Dagur tried to 'help' her he'd 'accidently' released the Nightmare. The guards didn't say anything, but Gobber doubted that the two chiefs really believed Dagur, Gobber sure as Hel didn't. But Hicca assured them she was alright and that no harm was done, so Stoick reluctantly let the issue slide.

Gobber wasn't sure why Hicca had done it, maybe even at such a young age she seemed aware of the relation between tribes, and didn't want to cause trouble. Gobber would normally agree, but after Hicca told him what really happened, Gobber was adamant on telling Stoick the truth. The only reason he hadn't, was because Hicca made him promise not to.

Gobber stopped sharpening the axe he'd been working on, he let out a sigh and turned to look at the head of the ship. He was very worried for Hicca, but not nearly as much as Toothless and Stoick. They hadn't moved much since they'd set off, aside from Stoick giving the occasional order and Toothless growling at the other dragons every now and then to keep them in line.

They both kept looking forward, hoping to soon see the grey silhouette of Berserk Island. To Gobber, Hicca was like the daughter he'd never had, he could only imagine what Stoick was going through. He could understand Toothless's worry as well, the bond he shared with Hicca was obviously strong, could he sense the pain she was in?

No matter what, he would fight by their side to rescue her.

/LINE BREAK/

Back in the Berserker prison cell. Dagur's hands were still on Hicca.

Once her flat stomach was exposed, Dagur started by scratching and pinching at her skin leaving small marks in his wake, it was hardly anything compared to what he had done to her already but they still made her wince and clench her teeth. Then his touches changed completely... he started being gentle, running his finger tips up her sides to the point where they almost tickled. Again Hicca tried to wriggle her body away from his touches, but he just placed his firm hand on her hip to hold her still.

He took his time, going back and forth between stroking her stomach and suddenly scraping his nails across her skin, leaving angry red lines behind. "You know, it's strange... My dad used to say that this kind of torture causes the kind of pain that can never heal... But he also said that this could cause pleasure... are you enjoying this, Hicca?" She closed her eyes and tried to block him out.

"Just stop it," She whispered, already feeling shivers travel up her spine. It was natural for her body to react to soft and caring touches, but right now she was desperately trying to think of anything else. Dagur's eyes narrowed, he wanted a reaction from her, he wanted to hurt her and he wanted her power, those were the only two outcomes to this. He started pushing her tunic further up, over her chest until it caught under her chin, now that her chest bindings were visible Dagur could tell that she was a modest size despite how small she was.

He pulled out his knife and swiftly cut through her bindings, the sudden cold air making her gasp lightly, "Don't do this, please." Of course this just made Dagur chuckle again. He loved the way she looked so humiliated right now, obviously hating that he was seeing her so bear. He reached out and ran his finger down between her mounds, his touch sending jolts through her body. He suddenly turned harsh again, grabbing one of her breasts and digging his fingers in hard.

"GAH! S-Stop it! Don't touch there!" Hicca screamed as her body gave a violent jerk, she never realised how sensitive she was there.

"That's more like it, I love hearing you scream." He loosened his grip and reached his other hand to her unharmed breast, he softly kneaded it with his palm and ran his fingers lightly over her nipple.

"Mmh, Ah!" The touch took Hicca by surprise, she gasped and then bit her lip tightly trying to stop herself from making anymore strange noises.

"However," Dagur continued. "I'm starting to like those sounds more." Again he went back and forth with his hands, harshly pinching and pulling at her one minute before tenderly rubbing and squeezing the next. The assault on her senses was making her head spin, his cruel touches hurt a lot, but his affectionate touches made her soul hurt so much more. After just a few minutes of this she was panting and her cheeks were red from embarrassment.

Dagur pulled one of his hands away from her nipple and leaned forward, taking her nipple into his mouth and biting down hard. "AAH! D-Dagur! Stop, please!" Hicca begged, her back arched painfully and body thrashing trying to get Dagur off of her. By this point she didn't care if she sounded pathetic, she'd actually preferred him to just hurt her, instead of violation of her senses like this.

But Dagur didn't stop his assault. He retracted his teeth and licked the abused flesh of her nipple, "Ah... St-Stop that's- Oh, Mm..." Hicca couldn't stop the moans that slipped past and she couldn't stop her body from feeling the way it did. The sparks of pleasure shooting up her spine also felt like they were burning her, and the way he twisted and pulled painfully at her other nipple made her scream and gasp. It all made her head spin and she hated herself for feeling that way, this was a torturous pleasure.

This was rape.

"D-Dagur! Please, mmh... please stop. I-AAh! I can't... I can't take it any-mmh, more," She knew she was crying but she couldn't stop, she hurt in so many ways, it was agony.

Dagur ran his hand up her side and gave her nipple one last hard suck before finally pulling away. "You can beg all you want, but unless it's you asking Skadi for help, I'm not going to listen."

Hicca was relieved that Dagur had finally stopped the assault on her breasts, but his words made her realise that the situation hadn't changed. To Dagur this was just a form of torture, just another way to cause her pain and make her suffer. Dagur moved upwards so that his lips were hovering above the pulse point on her neck, "All you have to do is transform and all you're suffering will end." He waited for a little while, but Hicca just turned her head away and refused to say anything. "Still nothing? Are you really hating this? With all the moaning you were doing earlier... could it be that you're actually enjoying this?"

Even with Hicca's head turned away from him, Dagur could see another part of Hicca break away as she started to cry more. "No, I don't! That's not... I-I...", but it made no difference, Dagur was having so much fun playing with her body and emotions like this.

He chuckled darkly and ran his tongue down her neck. "You do like it, don't you? You dirty little whore. You actually love my hands on you, don't you?" He pulled his tongue away and instead started sucking on the pulse point of her neck.

Hicca let out another cry as she tried to pull away, "Stop it! Get off me!" Hicca finally fought back and aim a kick at his stomach with her metal leg. But Dagur just caught it and squeezed the area just above her knee, he removed his other hand from her torso and moved away slightly before dropping her leg. For a moment Hicca thought he was finally going to stop, but the look on his face was still a menacing smirk. She then watched in horror as Dagur repositioned himself to kneel in front of her lower body.

He ran his fingers over her stomach once more before scrapping his nails down towards the band of her leggings. He slowly ran his fingers across the band making Hicca shudder at his touch, before slipping his fingers underneath the material and tugging at the slightly. But then his face changed into a look of annoyance, "It's going to be annoying getting these past that metal leg of yours..." He leaned back and pulled out his knife again, "Unless you want me to cut you again, I suggest you hold still."

Hicca's leggings already had a large amount of holes in them, so it didn't take Dagur long to cut the material away. Her legs were now bare aside from the tattered remains hanging from the top of her prosthetic. The only thing separating Dagur from seeing Hicca completely naked was her thin undergarments.

Once they were gone... He would... Dagur was going to...

Hicca couldn't even think about it.

But Dagur still took his time. He placed his hand on her right knee and slid it up her thigh, then he started pulling, scratching and pinching the soft skin there. He did the same to her other leg, but then he ran the back of his knuckles against her inner thigh, from her knee all the way up until it was just inches away for where she hoped he would never touch. Hicca squeezed her thighs together to try and stop his hands, but Dagur just grabbed her knees and pulled them apart, he dug his finger nails into her skin as a warning.

He moved his hand down to her metal leg and raised it so that her thigh was at his eye line. Half way between her knee and hip, on the inside of her thigh, he bit down again. Hicca screamed out again as the softer flesh was attacked by Dagur's teeth, not hard enough to draw blood, but enough to leave a definite make.

When Dagur finally retracted his teeth, Hicca was so close to breaking. She could feel her body shaking as the tears streamed down her cheeks and her breath came out in short pants. Her body still fought against itself, still unsure whether she was feeling pleasure, pain, or a mix of the two.

He really was going to rape her.

As Dagur's hand moved further up her thigh and almost brushed against her lower region, Hicca turned her head to the side and prayed for it to be over quickly.

Suddenly there was a knock on the cell door. It made Hicca jump and Dagur rear back, his face a look of pure hatred. "What!?" He roared, causing Hicca flinched at the volume.

"M-My apologies sir, but we've spotted several ships heading this way. There are dragons with them." The guard on the other side sounded shaken, obviously not expecting Dagur to respond so viciously.

Dagur growled in annoyance, "Already?" He glared at Hicca but she still refused to look at him, then he turned back to the door in annoyance, "Get ready to intercept them!"

The guard's footstep quickly sprinted away down the hall. Dagur turned his attention back to her, "How annoying, looks like we'll have to stop for now. But don't worry, I'll be back soon." He reached up and unhooked her chains, causing her to collapse to her knees while breathing heavily. It seemed she was still in shock. She couldn't believe it... Dagur had finally stopped.

But then she realised that Dagur still hadn't left. Before she had a chance to pull her tunic back down and cover herself, he grabbed her shoulder and knelt down in front of her. Then he leaned in closer to her ear, "In the mean time... I'll give you a taste of what's to come."

With his other hand Dagur grabbed the neck of her tunic and ripped it to the side, exposing her left shoulder and making her yelp in surprise. Then he lunged forward and sunk his teeth into her skin.

Hicca screamed in pain as his teeth broke through her skin, she pulled on his hair and pushed against his shoulders, desperately tried to dislodge him. But Dagur just clamped his jaw harder making her whimper.

When Dagur finally let her go, Hicca fell back and lay on the floor panting. He leaned back and wiped her blood from his mouth as he admired his work on her skin. The bruises, welts and cuts that covered every inch of her body, her torn clothes, dishevelled hair, and now the new bleeding bite mark on her neck. Her tears completing the broken look.

Dagur stood, readjusted himself and then left.

/LINE BREAK/

In his hiding place, Snotlout was almost falling asleep beside Hookfang. But when Hookfang heard the guards talking loudly, he quickly nudged his rider awake.

"Wha... What's happening?" He asked sleepily.

Hookfang gestured forward with his snout, Snotlout crawled towards the bushes and peeked through. He could now see the two guards from before as well as a third soldier. The new soldier was clad in much less armour than the other two, his face flushed red as if he'd been running, maybe he was a messenger.

"Chief Dagur is busy questioning the prisoner, you cannot disturb him right now." One of the guards said. So Hicca is down there.

"But it's an emergency. We've spotted enemy ships on the horizon, and they're being pulled by dragons."

"What!?" Both guards exclaimed. Snotlout breathed a sigh of relief as he heard those words. The others were on their way, and by the sounds of it, they'd be here very soon. Reluctantly, the guards stepped aside to allow the messenger enter the prison. Snotlout waited.

After a little while, the messenger exited the tunnel, Dagur followed a few minutes later. He then left with the messenger and one of the guards, leaving the other one to watch the entrance. This was his chance.

Snotlout signalled Hookfang to stay where he was, he then slowly pulled his hammer from his back and began creeping up on the remaining soldier. Once he was close enough, he pulled his hammer back and swung it forward on the guard's head. A satisfying clang sounded and the hammer hit the steel of the guard's helmet, the guard gave a groan and crumpled to the floor.

Snotlout then turned to the prison entrance, he tightened his grip on his hammer and made his way down the stairs.

/LINE BREAK/

Out on the horizon, the island could be seen from the ships. This of course meant that the Berserkers could see them as well. They had to be ready for Dagur's ships to come and meet them, but with an army of dragons on their side, Stoick wasn't worried about them. He was worried that the ships would slow them down thought, possibly giving Dagur enough time to do something else.

He didn't want to think what 'something else' could be, but he wouldn't let Dagur stop him from saving his daughter.

**Everything's ready, find out what happens next time. Let me know what you think of this chapter, let's see if this story can reach 15 reviews soon :)**

**Yukari Fudo****: Just hang in there, we've still got a way to go**

**DragonGuardian199012****: Almost, hope you weren't too worried**

**Shade ShadowWolf**: **Don't worry, you're not alone :) I may write some DagurCup once I've finished this story, so stay tuned**


	13. Chapter 13

**13****th**** Chapter, everything's ready to save Hicca :) Quick recap: Hicca is still in the Berserker prison, but Snotlout is also there to save her. Stoick, Gobber, the other dragon riders, and the rest of the Hairy Hooligan tribe are on their way to save Hicca, but Dagur is now on his way to intercept them. Here we go :)**

"**Speaking"**

'_**Thoughts'**_

The Valhalla Crystal

Chapter 13: Found

As Snotlout crept into the underground tunnels, he was surprised to see how many passages branched off from the entrance. It would take him a while to search them all, so he'd have to get started. He trudged down the middle corridor and started searching.

After a little while with no luck, Snotlout wondered if he was just going round in circles. 'Why do all these hallways look the same?' He thought as he kept walking. 'Seriously... if this keeps up I'll never find Hic-!' His train of thought was interrupted as a shield suddenly slammed into his face.

/LINE BREAK/

As Hicca lay on the ground, she allowed her tears to fall silently. Once she was sure Dagur wasn't coming back any time soon, she breathing deeply and took a moment to compose herself. She thanked the gods that Dagur had stopped when he had.

She sat up and quickly readjusted her tunic to cover her near naked body. It was littered with holes, one of the sleeves was barely hanging on, and the neck line was torn over her left shoulder so the bite mark was visible. Despite this, it still made her feel better to wear it than be on full display. She looked around at the rest of her clothes, her fur vest and leggings were nothing but rags, the only still intact items of clothing she had was her fur boot and belt.

With such minimal clothing, if anyone saw her they would most likely assume that Dagur violated her completely, but she'd have to bear with it. Unless she found some spare clothes lying around, there was nothing she could do to fix her appearance. Hicca stood shakily and looked around her cell, but nothing had changed. There was still only one small window and the walls were bare, she then turned to the large heavy door. Then a thought struck her.

She hadn't heard Dagur lock it behind him.

Hicca slowly moved towards it and placed her hand on the solid wood. She pushed a little... but the door didn't budge.

So she pushed a little harder... and it opened.

Hicca gasped in disbelieve, there was no way she could be that lucky. Could this be what people called 'the luck of the gods'? Maybe Skadi was still looking out for her, even though Hicca had blocked her out. Hicca pushed the door open just enough for her to look out. After making sure no one was around she pushed the door open the rest of the way and slipped out.

She wondered for a little while, trying to find her way out, but her progress slow because her legs were still shaking. She had to stop and lean against wall every now and then, thankfully the hallway was still lit with torches. She'd walked past several other prison doors, all with bars on their small windows, but there was no one in them. Maybe she was the only one down here.

She then came across a door without a window. She put her ear to the wood but no sounds came from the other side. Maybe this was the way out. She pulled open the door, relieved to find it unlocked, but this wasn't the exit. Instead she found a store room full of weapons. At least something in here could be useful, she walked inside and soon came across a pile of shields. Some were broken and splintered, but amongst the pile she was able to find one intact.

'It won't be as strong as my Gronckle Iron shield, but it'll have to do.' Hicca thought pulling the shield towards her and inspecting it. She took the shield with her and went back into the hallway.

But then she hears footsteps coming towards her.

Hicca quickly ran to the corner and readied her shield, she could only hear one set of footsteps, so hopefully this should work. This was finally her chance to fight back. Dagur wouldn't be expecting her, especially not with a weapon, this was her chance to get a little revenge for some of the things he'd done to her. She waited for him to get a little closer, just until she could see the tip of his boot around the corner. Then she swung her shield as hard as she could, the wood and metal making solid contact with his face.

She heard the body slump to the ground and silently cheered to herself. But as she turned the corner, it wasn't Dagur she saw on the ground... It was Snotlout.

She gazed down at him is disbelief, unsure whether he was real or not. "S... Snotlout?"

A groan sounded from Snotlout as he slowly sat up into a sitting position, his head spinning and nose bleeding. "Yeah, it's me... Who's asking?" Snotlout looked up at his attacker and waited for his vision to clear.

Hicca couldn't believe it. She crouched down and slowly reached out to touch Snotlouts arm. He was real. He was really here. "It's really you? You actually came for me..." Hicca's voice shook slightly as relief and happiness washed over her.

"Hicca?" Snotlout blinked to clear his vision more. He could just make out the green of her tunic and her auburn hair, when suddenly she threw herself against him and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

"I can't believe you're really here," Hicca's shoulders were shaking slightly.

"Hicca, are you crying?" Snotlout reached up to Hicca's shoulder and was about to push Hicca away, but then he noticed something. Hicca's hair was a lot short than before. "What happened to your hair?"

Hicca tightened her grip on her cousin, but Snotlout placed his hands on her shoulder and pushed her back gently to get a better look at her. With his now clear vision... he saw the state she was in. Her clothes were torn, her hair cut, and her visible skin littered with bruises, cuts and burns. But those weren't the worst marks. Handprints on her legs, a hickey on her neck, and a deep bite mark on her shoulder. He had no doubt there were more marks under her clothes, it almost made him scared to ask.

"Hicca... What in Thor's name happened to you?"

Hicca didn't look at him. She knew what he was thinking, and it wasn't far off from the truth.

Her silence made Snotlouts blood boil, Dagur was going to pay for this. He didn't waste any more time. He stood and pulled Hicca up with him, then he did something unexpected. He took off his fur jacket and helped Hicca feed her arms through the holes.

"Thanks," she said quietly, as she pulled the jacket tighter around her.

Snotlout then gripped her hand tightly and started running back the way he'd came, pulling her behind him. He was going to get her back to Hookfang , off this island, and far away from that monster.

/LINE BREAK/

Just off the Berserk shore, Dagur's fleet met the Hooligan ships.

Stoick lead the charge, he jumped onto an enemy ship and started slamming his fists into anyone who got in his way, followed quickly by Toothless and Gobber. Although he couldn't get air born by himself, Toothless still used his wings and Plasma Blasts to sweep away any soldiers before Gobber also came barrelling forward, swinging his mace hand and knocking out those who remained. While the three of them took care of an entire ship by themselves, the rest of their tribe handled the other enemy ships.

As soon as the fighting started, the Hooligans released the dragons. The riders directed the adolescent dragons to the enemy ships, attacking from the air and sinking as many ships as possible. But they were still very close to the shore line. They not only had to deal with the enemy Vikings below, but also the projectiles from the land.

Dagur watched from the docks, "Reload and light the oil! Aim for the dragons!" The catapults were loaded with oil coated boulders, the oil was then set alight as the marksmen took aim. "Fire!" Dagur roared.

The burning rocks were thrown into the air, aimed high at the flight of dragons. Most of the agile dragons were able to dodge, and some of the Gronckles were even able to catch the rocks mid air, like a dog being thrown a treat. But one of the rocks soared towards Barf and Belch, and hit Barf square in the jaw. Thankfully it only stunned him, but his jerk reaction cause Ruffnut to lose her grip.

"Ruffnut," Tuffnut yelled after his sister as he tried to control the dazed half of their dragon.

Ruffnut fell for a short while before a strong pair of arms caught her. "Are you okay?" Ruffnut looked up to see Fishlegs looking down at her.

She blushed slightly as he held her, "Um... yeah, I'm fine." Fishlegs directed Meatlug up to Tuffnut, who had now gotten Barf and Belch under control. Ruffnut jumped back onto her dragon and gave Fishlegs a short wave before the two dragons separated, flying back into the fray.

Cannons were fired, arrows were shot, swords clashed, dragons attacked, and Vikings fought. Slowly but surely, the Hooligans were battling their way through the handful of Berserker ships, making their way closer to the island.

But Dagur just smirked, "Signal the fleet! Surround and destroy them!"

One of the Berserker soldiers loaded an arrow into their crossbow, and fired it into the sky towards the mountain. As the arrow flew, a long blue shawl tailed behind it. That was the signal. From two opposite sides of the island, the Berserker armada advanced towards the battle.

"Stoick, we've got more ships coming on our left." Stoick turned to see the bigger ships sailing towards them. He was about to give an order, when another Viking ran to his other side, "There are ships approaching from the right as well." The two flanks were planning on surrounding them. Stoick realized if they wanted to get out of this, they'd have to retreat now. But what about Hicca? They couldn't just leave her. He hesitated for a moment as the battle continued around him.

Dagur's troops were loading another set of rocks in to their catapults, this time aiming for the Hooligan ships. "On my mark!" He called. But just as he was about to give the order, when a couple of the catapults burst into flames. "What the-!?" He looked up just in time to see a Monstrous Nightmare soar over their heads.

The other dragon riders also looked to the shore just in time to see the dragon flying from the island, destroying catapults as it flew. "It's Snotlout and Hookfang!" Astrid called to the others, she felt herself fill with joy at the sight of them.

But there was something else, a flash of green and brown clinging to Snotlout from behind. "And he's got Hicca with him!" Fishlegs yelled giving a slight cheer. They watched as Hookfang swooped round again and spew flames over most of the remaining catapults.

Dagur roared and fumed in anger as he watched the dragon destroy his weapons, but not only that, he was forced to watch as that dragon flew away carrying his crystal. "Shoot that dragon down! And someone prepare me a ship!"

Arrows shot into the sky, but Hookfang flew higher to protect the two humans on his back, he was now much higher than the other riders, almost above the cloud line. "Ha! Just try and catch us Dagur," Snotlout taunted from the air. Every now and then he would look over his shoulder to check on Hicca. Her face pressed between his shoulder blades and arms wound tightly around his chest, she was still shaking slightly. Snotlout started steering Hookfang towards the Hooligan ships, but as he did so, he saw the lines of enemy ships approaching on both sides. "Hicca, take a look at this."

Hicca slowly raised her head and looked forward, at first she didn't see what Snotlout was referring to. But as she turned to her left she saw one of the fleets, and to her right she saw the other. "Their closing in on them, we need to help."

The Hooligans had destroyed most of the Berserker ships, but they also had to deal with their own losses. One of their own ships had been destroyed, and another was filled with injured dragons and Vikings. The armada was closing on them, it wouldn't be long until their escape route was gone.

"There's no time!" Snotlout yelled, even he could see their window was closing. They had to do something now.

Then Hicca remembered she wasn't alone.

At that moment she tore down the walls she'd built in her mind and searched for Skadi. It had been an entire day since Hicca had blocked her out, as soon as she opened her mind to the Goddess Skadi was upon her.

'What the hell were you thinking!?' Skadi screamed at her, Hicca felt as if Skadi had just slapped her. 'Why did you allowed him to do this to you instead!? If you had just summoned me the moment you were awake, I could have rescued you.'

'I didn't want you to rescue me, I needed to do this on my own!'

'Why?'

'Because I don't want you constantly coming to my rescue! We're a team, which means I protect you just as much as you protect me. I was not about to let Dagur get to you.'

There was a pause, 'We're a... team?'

'Of course. We may not be equals, but we will fight together.'

Skadi was frozen for a moment, she realised what Hicca was saying. She didn't want to be protected by Skadi... she wanted to fight alongside her. Skadi came to a decision. 'Alright... we'll fight together in the future. But right now, at least let me help your tribe. Consider this a 'thank you', for protecting me.'

Hicca nodded, 'Alright then... help me'

Snotlout felt Hicca's arms let go of him, he turned just in time to see her slip from Hookfang's saddle and fall through the sky. "Hicca!"

Everyone looked up at Snotlout's cry, just in time to see the clouds part, and a familiar flash of energy fall through. It was like a white fireball falling through the clouds, but this time something different happened. The energy shattered to reveal Skadi in all her glory, shining white, blue and black could be seen amongst the glowing energy. But the energy didn't disappear, it hardened, forming small ice crystals around her. Skadi decent slowed until it seemed as though she was floating in the air, the clenched her fists and brought he knees up towards her chest, curling up into a tight ball. As she did so, her body started to glow a light blue colour and the ice crystals started spinning a whizzing around her. She was building up the energy deep inside of her, stronger, colder and more powerful.

Those ships... The ones surrounding Hiccas tribe... The ones sent by that man.

They were her target.

With a fierce and loud battle cry, she released all of the ice she'd been building up. The rings of ice crystals spread out from her like a shockwave. They didn't touch the Hooligan ships, or the area of water around them, and Skadi made sure to leave a path heading east for their escape. But everything else... was encased in ice.

The shockwave brought with it a strong wind spreading over the sea and freezing it, all of the Berserker ships were trapped and forced back as walls of ice formed from the frozen waves. But the only thing the Hooligan Vikings and dragons felt was a cold but gentle wind.

Stoick and the other Vikings had shielded their eyes because of the intense light coming from Skadi, but when the winds died down and their eyes opened, they could only to widen them in disbelief. All the way from the Berserker beach to a few meters in front of them was a thick sheet of ice lying across the surface of the water, and on their left and right were mountain lines of ice separating them from the enemy ships.

Stoick turned to see their gateway home was clear, now was their chance. "Make sure everyone is here and turn the ships around, we're getting out of here." The Vikings scattered to make sure there wasn't any more damage, and that everyone was accounted for. There was then a loud thump as Skadi landed heavily on the deck of the main ship, Stoick turned to see her on one knee panting slightly. "Skadi, are you alright?"

"Not really," She answered. "Hicca is hurt and losing strength, and I used up a lot of power just now, we barely have any energy left between the two of us."

Stoick wanted to know what Hicca's condition was, but right now she was protected by Skadi. The most he could do was get them away from here. "Don't worry, we'll be out of here as soon as possible and then you and Hicca can rest."

The ships began to turn, and most of the dragons landed on the decks ready to be harnessed again, the dragon riders quickly scattering to help out where they could. They had almost forgotten about Dagur.

"It's about time you showed yourself, Skadi!"

They all turned to see him. He and a couple of soldiers had taken a small boat from their island towards them. But like all the other ships in Dagur's fleet, it was stuck in the iced-over water, allowing Dagur to get closer on foot. He now stood on the frozen surface just off to their side as the ships turned.

As Skadi's eyes fell on him, she felt her anger burn. He was the one who caused Hicca so much pain. He had tortured her and almost raped her. How dare he show his face in front of her. "You..." She grit her teeth and clenched her fists, trying to think of the most vulgar word to call him.

But he spoke again, his words almost turned her mad with anger. "So tell me, Goddess Skadi... Does Hicca like the bite mark I gave her?"

There was a combine feeling of anger and fear as Dagur said that. Even if he was lying, just the thought of Dagur sinking his teeth into Hiccas flesh infuriated most of the Hooligan tribe. How dare this human... no... this monster, talk so casually about harming someone as innocent as Hicca. They all wanted to attack Dagur, but at the same time they wanted to know what happened to Hicca, and even though Snotlout had seen the marks on her skin, he still didn't know the full extent of Hicca's pain.

In the end, it was Skadi who reacted.

Despite being blocked out by Hicca, she was still fully aware of what he had done to her. But this man felt no remorse what so even. She could allow him to live a moment longer.

With a battle cry full of anger, she drew her sword and raised it high above her head. Even though her energy was running low, the others could barely follow her movement with their eyes. Skadi jumped from the ship onto the icy platform, then she charged at Dagur with great speed, ready to strike him down.

Dagur already had his sword drawn ready, but before he could raise it in defence, Skadi was already in front him. But then the unexpected happened.

"Skadi, stop!"

Skadi's movements slowed and Dagur took the opportunity.

**Cliff-hanger! Can you guess what's going to happen? Let me know what you think, and find out what happens next time :)**

**mistyElk0****: Can you guess what I'm going to do next? :) LOL**

**Yukari Fudo****: I wouldn't say Hicca was 'enjoying' Dagur's treatment, the body just reacts on its own sometimes. Like when you're being tickled, or in this case feeling pleasure even when you don't want to, that's one of the worse things about rape :( As for the last chapter, I really wanted to make Dagur a real person, so I needed to give a reason for his Deranged nature. **

**Shade ShadowWolf****: Sorry to disappoint you, but I didn't want to put Hicca though all of that**

**Clancy1018****: Sorry to upset you :(**

**HiccasBoy: Just keep reading, hopefully you'll like the ending :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**14****th**** Chapter, wow over 20 reviews, thank you so much :) For those of you wanting some DagurCup, I'm currently working on a story called 'What if', which is kind of my idea of what would have happened if the relationship between Dagur and Hicca had been different right from the start. Since I've dislocated my kneecap and will be stuck off my feet for a while, so if any of you have any requests, I would greatly appreciate something to keep me busy :) So, ready to find out what happened? Here we go.**

"**Speaking"**

'**Thoughts'**

The Valhalla Crystal

Chapter 14: Lost

No one was really sure what happened at that moment, it all happened too quickly. They knew Skadi had reached Dagur, but then her movements slowed... and he reacted.

Then they both froze.

They hadn't heard Hicca scream for Skadi to stop. They hadn't seen Dagur's blade make contact with Skadi, and they didn't see his blade pierced her heart.

Skadi had been so shocked by Hicca's yell that she'd hesitated, and Dagur had taken the chance and attacked. She didn't know why Hicca had told her to stop, but she didn't have the chance to ask now. Dagur didn't know why Skadi hesitated either, but he didn't care. He'd pierced the Goddess's heart and killed her, the crystal would be forced out of Hicca's body and then it would be his.

"I win."

The glow in Skadi's eyes began to fade, as she dropped her sword she could feel herself slipping away. It wasn't really dying, she was a god after all. But sharing a body with Hicca had given her form a human shell, and as that shell suffered a fatal blow, she could do nothing to stop her soul ripping apart from Hicca's.

From the outside, it seemed like an explosion just went off.

A pillar of energy ruptured from where Skadi and Dagur had been standing. It was twice the size of the energy pillar from Skadi's first appearance, but instead of expanding outward, it rocketed into the sky and pierced the clouds. The energy still changed its form, but its colours were different. Instead of a swirling rainbow of colour, the energy started as a continues skyward stream of light blue. But as the blue moved upwards, flecks of dark green started to appear and travelled in the opposite direction, downwards from the sky to the ice platform. The flecks grew in size until they became waves, and then into rivers of green amongst the blue. They continued to grow until the stream of energy was half down flowing green, and half upward rocketing blue. But the green still continued to grow, slowly engulfing the blue light.

As the Vikings watched they started to realise what the meaning of this was. The light blue colour represented Skadi's icy shades, while the green was someone else. The crystal was being ripped out of Hicca and plunged into Dagur. In turn, Skadi was separated from the gem and sent back to Asgard, while a new god took her place and merged with Dagur.

Hicca didn't know for sure what was going on. Inside the vortex she could feel herself getting weaker, Skadi's strength was torn away from her and the effects of the torture made her feel faint. She lost conciseness.

For Dagur, it was the opposite. He felt a presence merge with his own, and a name imbed itself in his mind. He felt stronger than ever and the power kept getting greater as the God took over. Before he allowed the god to take over completely, he left one command, "Show them your strength."

From the outside, the pillar of energy was now completely green, completely overwhelming the light blue from before. What happened to Hicca? The Berserker soldiers were wondering the same thing about Dagur.

Then the energy vanished, everyone rushing forward to get a better look.

In the spot where Skadi and Dagur had fought, now stood an imposing looking man. At his feet lay Hicca. Her tribe stared in shock, unsure if she was just unconscious, or...

Some of the Vikings readied their weapons, prepared to rescue their heiress once more, but the dragons started backing up and some even whimpered, they sensed something the humans couldn't. Then the man opened his eyes, the glowing green stopped the Vikings in their tracks. His eyes not only held the dominance that Skadi's had, but also a great evil power. They had no idea how powerful this God was, but for all they knew, he could kill them all with a single finger.

He was much taller than Dagur had been, possible taller than Stoick. His skin was pale and his hair was dark and loose, just brushing against his shoulders. His armour was mostly black, but with intricate swirling details in gold. His clothes underneath were green and grey, with a long green cape reaching his ankles, and attached to his shoulders with gold clasps. On his head was a golden helmet, with two long horns in the front pointing upwards.

The new god turned and took in his surroundings. As he did so, his foot bumped into Hicca's prone form. He looked down at her before looking up at the Vikings on the ship. The dragons and Vikings were all ready to fight, but they couldn't stop themselves from hesitating.

When the god spoke, his voice was deep and uncaring. "Did you all come here for this girl?" He asked them. As he did, he lifted one of his feet and placed it heavily on Hicca's side, angering the people of Berk further. "Well then... you can have her back."

With that, the God drew his foot back and kicked Hicca solidly in the stomach. The impact sent her rocketing back towards the boat, she hit the mast of the main ship and fell limply to the ground.

"Hicca!" The teens and Toothless imminently rushed over to Hicca. The force had done more damage to her body as well as reopened some of her wounds, she wasn't moving, but at least she was breathing.

Stoick wanted desperately to rush to his daughter's side. But while facing against a god, he had to get his people out of here. "Phlegma, get Hicca below deck! Everyone, get ready to retreat!" He hated saying it, but they couldn't stay here.

Phlegma the Fierce was a great warrior, as well as a healer. She quickly rushed over to where Hicca had fallen and gently picked her up, just by the look of Hicca's visible wounds, Phlegma knew she'd need assistance. "Astrid, Ruffnut, give me a hand." The two girls nodded and quickly demounted their dragons before following Phlegma below deck.

The ropes were attached to the dragon's harnesses again and they took to the sky quickly, they had to head towards the exit Skadi had made. The god watched them in amusement, he raised his hand and directed his power through it. "So, you're trying to escape?" A long golden staff formed in his hand, at the lower end it split into three strands and wrapped around forming a spiralled point. The top end it thickened and split into five, each limb twisting and curling over itself forming a mass of golden hooks, almost like a hideous misshapen claw. A green gem grew in the centre of the gold swirls and started to glow ominously. "Then allow me to assist you," he said with a smirk.

He raised his staff high and slammed it into the ice below him. The impact was only caused by the end of his staff, but the shockwave was beyond intense. It cracked the ice the shot streams of fire in five directions and forced the ice apart, the tremors caused turrets of water to shoot through the ice and break it apart even more. The cracks travelled all the way up the icy mountains and brought them tumbling down, freeing the armada ships but also pushing them back as a strong hot air current pulsed through the air.

That same air current swept the Hooligan ships forward, forcing everyone to hold on tight for fear of being blown away. Some of the dragons were sent spinning through the air, but thankfully they were able to recover. The ships was thrown through the ice opening, barely missing the crumbling ice walls, but thankfully they made contract with the water again without serious damage. For a moment it seemed as though the ships would capsize, but the dragons pushed against the sides to keep them afloat.

They had cleared the exit, and there was now nothing but open water around them.

But it was too early for them to celebrate. Stoick ran to the back of the ship to see the god floating towards them. He had to think of something, but what could they do against a god?

But the god stopped.

When he reached the edge of Skadi's former ice walls, he stopped and hovered there, his cape trailing behind him. "What's the matter Vikings? Are you afraid? You should be. I'm not going to kill you this moment, but your deaths will come soon enough. Now that I'm free, your tribe's personal Ragnarok will occur in three days." The god was about to say more, but he suddenly felt another force inside of him. It must be the human he was now connected to, he was kicking up quite a fuss. He turned back to the Vikings once again, "You should use this time to say goodbye to your loved ones." With that he turned and headed back towards the Berserker Island.

There was silence for a long time among the Hooligan ships. Some afraid, some shocked, others still angry. Then Stoick finally spoke, "Set course for Berk, release the sails and let the dragons rest." The sails were lowered and the dragons took their opportunity to rest, luckily there was still enough room on the remaining ships for the dragons to lie down. With Astrid and Ruffnut still below deck, the male dragon riders helped out with the dragons, making sure they were given water and food. They had all flown for 10 hours straight before being thrown into battle, the dragons deserved to rest.

Once the Berserker Island was mostly out of sight, the Hooligan tribe finally felt as though they could breath. They had fought hard, and with Hicca returned to them, they could start heading home. But by the sounds of it, their peace would only hold for three more days.

As the island grew smaller, Stoick and Toothless allowed their thoughts to return to Hicca. Gobber sensed this and patted Stoick on the shoulder. "You two should go, we'll take care of things here."

Stoick nodded, he and Toothless walked towards the entrance to the lower deck, Stoick hesitated slightly before walking down. The lower deck was mostly stocked with food, weapons and other supplies, but on the main ship, there was a small room at the back with several hammocks. People could rest here, and the wounded could be attended to.

Stoick knocked on the door before entering. Ruffnut and Astrid were both standing beside one of the hammocks while Phlegma kneeled on the other side. Snotlout's fur jacket, Hicca's ripped tunic, metal leg and boot lay beside them. In the hammock lay Hicca. Toothless gave a low gurgle and lumbered up to Hicca's side, he didn't nudge or try to wake her, just sat and waited. Stoick's heart almost broke at the sight. Most of her body was already heavily bandaged with Phlegma now wrapping her left arm, he could just make out some of the bruises and cuts before they were covered. As Stoick walked closer, Phlegma finished and pulled a blanket over Hicca's body.

"How is she?"

"She'll live, but there are some extensive injuries on her body, and it's very possible she'll suffer from trauma and scarring." Phlegma told him honestly.

Stoick nodded slightly and turned to the two girls at his side, "Can you two give us a moment."

"Sure." Astrid answered as she and Ruffnut turned towards the door, Ruffnut gave Toothless a quick scratch under the chin before the two girls walked back above deck. Astrid's voice had stayed strong, but the two girls were obviously shaken.

Once they'd left, Stoick turned back to Phlegma. "Is there any sigh that she was... that she was rapped?" He had to know.

Phlegma chose her words carefully before answering. "There are hand prints on her body, including her chest and thighs. I didn't find and bruising on other elements elsewhere to suggest he went further than that though. However..." She paused again. "The extent of the bruises on her wrists suggests that she was restrained, and there are bite marks on her shoulder and chest. I haven't done an internal check yet, that's the only way we'll know for sure."

Stoick winced at the thought and Toothless gave a quiet growl, they both agreed that Hicca had been violated enough. "Is that really necessary? Surely we can just wait until she's awake, then we can just ask her."

Phlegma sighed slightly, she knew what Stoick was thinking. "Stoick," she said gently. "You know how your daughter is. If something did happen and we were to ask her straight out, do you really think she'd tell us the truth? Not to mention, from the looks of some of these marks, Hicca may have been unconscious at some point. It's possible something may have been done to her without her even knowing about it."

Stoick realised what Phlegma was saying, she was right of course, but her words still troubled him greatly. Phlegma watched as Stoicks face turned sorrowful, "But..." she added. "I understand what you're worried about. I still need to examine her further, but I won't do anything else until she's awake."

Stoick breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you." He said.

Phlegma stood and walked around the hammock, she placed a hand on Stoicks shoulder. "I'll give you three a moment alone." With that she left the room.

Stoick just stood and stared at Hicca for a while. She looked so small and fragile right now. He looked down at her prosthetic and then back to her battered body. Why did she have to suffer so much? She had been through so much in life already, and yet there was always something just around the corner ready to cause her more pain.

It wasn't fair.

Hicca was the kindest and selfless person in the entire archipelago, why did these things always happen to her. Maybe it was his fault. He had allowed her to explore and fight, maybe if he had sheltered her more...

No. If he had done that she would definitely hate him. Hicca was not meant to be locked away, and if she was she would fight harder for her freedom. He was just being over protective of her. But what else was a father to do? Especially after what she'd been through, he wanted to wrap her in his arms and never let her go.

/LINE BREAK/

When Astrid and Ruffnut finally arrived above deck, the boys immediately ran over to them.

"How's Hicca? Is she okay?" Tuffnut asked.

Honestly, the girls only knew the basics of first aid, while tending to Hicca, they had just done as Phlegma asked. When the ship had been thrown they had helped keep Hicca stable, then they'd helped remove Hicca's torn clothes, and had handed Phlegma anything she needed. They had seen most of the marks that littered her body, and quite a few times they had been afraid to look at the extent of them.

"She'll be okay, but we'll need to be careful. Phlegma says she'll most likely suffer from scars and trauma after this." Astrid had managed to harden herself, but Ruffnut was still shaken.

"H-Hey... Dagur said... he said something about a b-bite mark... was he telling the truth?" Fishlegs asked nervously.

"He was," The others turned to Snotlout. He had his arms crossed and seemed to be glaring down at his feet. "I saw it when I rescued her... it was still bleeding, he must have done it not long ago."

"But, why?" Tuffnut asked confused. "I mean, I get that he wanted to hurt Hicca, but still, why would Dagur bite her?"

"Are you really that dense?" Ruffnut snapped at him. She hadn't meant to, but she felt so angry right now. The others understood, they knew what the mark meant. In particular... what it meant to the girls.

Ruffnut pulled her brother aside and spoke to him, "Do you really not know what a bite mark means for a girl?"

"No," Tuffnut said annoyed. What was the big deal, he and Ruffnut had gotten into lots of fights over the years, at time they had resorted to biting and hair pulling. "Sis, what is it? How is it so different than other battle scars?" Tuffnut asked again. He was starting to get worried.

Ruffnut paused, trying to think of the right words. She had been told by her mother when she was 12, it still scared her, the very thought making her wrap her arms around herself. "It means 'Claimed'. When a woman has her virginity taken by a man before marriage, he'll often mark her to show that she belongs to him. It's a mark to show that her body has been used, that's it's nothing more than a slab of meat now."

As Tuffnut listened, his body started to shake in anger. No wonder his sister was so upset. He knew he wasn't the brightest spark, but he wanted to do something to make his twin feel better. He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her tightly. It was a little awkward, but it was the only thing he could think of. He found it hard to imagine, had Hicca really been put through that? And is there a chance it could happen to Ruffnut or Astrid in the future? It was a scary thought.

"Hicca must have been really scared," He thought out load.

"Yeah," Ruffnut said simply when they finally separated.

"So what now?"

"Well... Like Astrid said, we should be careful about what we say and do, Hicca will most likely get nightmares and flashbacks after this."

"Right... So how is she now?"

"She's resting, her dad is with her right now."

"Oh." There was another pause as the twins turned back to the other dragon riders. "So... what are we going to do?"

"We need to prepare ourselves." Astrid answered. "You heard that new god, unless we do something to stop him, he's going to release Ragnarok upon us in three days."

"B-But Ragnarok is the end of the world. It's a great battle that will cause the deaths of multiple gods, and submerge the world in water." Fishlegs asked growing more nervous by the second. "I've never heard anything about one single god being about to cause it."

"Me neither, but maybe there's a god connected to it." Snotlout said, trying to think.

"Didn't he say something else?" Tuffnut asked trying to remember. "Something about being free..."

"I remember. He said now that he was free, Ragnarok would occur." Ruffnut said, hoping it would help.

It did. Astrid and Fishlegs instantly realised who the God was, their faces turned pale with dread.

"W-W-Wait a minute. Y-Y-You don't think it's..." Fishleg's stutter prevented him from continuing.

"It must be. But why him of all people?"

"Hey, you two, what's wrong?" Snotlout asked shaking their shoulders, trying to snap them out of their daze.

Astrid spoke up, but her voice shook slightly as she did so. "It's Loki... That's who's possessed Dagur."

"Loki!?" The other three yelled in disbelief.

They had all heard the stories. Loki, the shape-shifter and trickster among the gods. The stories say that after he caused the death of Baldr, the god of Purity, he had been tied to three boulders as punishment until the end of days. The day he broke free, would be the start of Ragnarok.

And now he was bound to Dagur. This couldn't get much worse.

"Why him? Of all the gods Dagur could have joined with, why Loki?" Astrid asked under her breath.

"It makes sense when you think about it." Fishlegs thought out loud.

"What are you talking about?" Ruffnut asked.

Fishlegs thought for a moment, then he turned and walked over to Meatlug. He riffled through her saddle bags until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a thick book, but it wasn't the Book of Dragons. It was the Book of Norse Mythology, he had brought it with him just in case, and now it would be useful.

He quickly turned through its pages as he walked back towards the others. "Well, it turns out there's a lot of history between Loki and Skadi." He finally found the page the page he was looking for, his eye's scanning over the page. "The two pretty much hated each other. Remember what Gobber said? When Loki was finally captured, it was Skadi who hung a poisonous snake over him."

"You think he's out for revenge?" Astrid asked.

"It's possible. But since Skadi isn't here anymore, he'll most likely be coming after Hicca. That's why, instead of releasing Ragnarok on the entire word, he wants to destroy us first."

"Then we need to do something." Snotlout almost yelled. He desperately tried to think of something, but thinking wasn't his strong point.

"What would Hicca do?" Tuffnut thought out loud again.

"She'd try and save everyone, like she always does." Astrid answered firmly. "When she finds out that Loki is most likely after her specifically, she'll try and lead him somewhere else so the village won't be involved."

"She'd fight too." Snotlout said. He wasn't very smart, but he knew his cousin. "If there's even a chance that she could defeat Loki, then she'll definitely fight."

"So we need to help her." Fishlegs said, his voice shaky but determined. "Hicca's our friend, we can't let her take him on alone."

For possibly the first time ever, all of the teens agreed on their plan of action.

Once Hicca was awake, they would fight together.

**So Hicca is finally free, but still far from safe. Also, I know Loki seems like a bit of an obvious choice, but there is a pretty interesting history between him and Skadi.**

**Norse History Lesson 3: Loki is most well known for being a shape shifter and trickster, he also has powers over fire and magic**

**Loki is first connected to Skadi when he frames her father, Thiazi, for kidnapping the Goddess Idunn. When the other gods killed Thiazi, Skadi demanded compensation for his death. The gods allowed her to choose her own husband from among them, but Loki came up with the catch that she could only choose them based on their feet, this caused Skadi to marry Njord instead of Baldr. However, Skadi also included in her terms of settlement that Loki had to make her laugh, something that had been thought impossible. In the end, Loki was forced to take a piece of a cord, tie one end to a nanny goat and the other end to around his testicles. Needless to say, it brought them both to tears, his through pain and her's through laughter. **

**Loki later caused Baldr's death, the God of Purity was thought to be invulnerable. But Loki tricked the god Hodur into shooting Baldr with an arrow lined with mistletoe, the only thing that could harm Baldr. When the other gods realised it was Loki who was responsible, they hunted him down to punish him. Loki is eventually captured in one of his own traps, and is bound to a sharp rock using the entrails of his son, Nari. As revenge for the death of the man she loved, Skadi placed a deadly snake above Loki, causing it to drip poison on his face for eternity. It is said that the day Loki breaks free, he will lead an army of giants against the gods and bring Ragnarok upon the world.**

**Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, stay tuned for the next one :)**

**Shade ShadowWolf: DagurCup isn't the main focus of this story, but I will make it the focus of my upcoming story, 'What if' :) There will be M rated scenes, but no rape, but hopefully you'll like the still like it. :)**

**Clancy1018: Wow... You have no idea how happy that comment made me, I still can't stop smiling :D Thank you so much. I will finish this story and go on to write many more :)**

**Yuki Fudo: I felt some comedy was needed after the last chapter :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**15****th**** Chapter, this chapter is mostly going to be the history of the Haddock family, but let's see if we can hit 25 reviews :) Also my DagurCup story 'What if' is officially up, so check it out if you want some sweet and sexy Hicca/Dagur moments :) Here we go.**

"**Speaking"**

'_**Thoughts'**_

The Valhalla Crystal

Chapter 15: Past

The waves were calm as the Hooligan ship sailed back to Berk. It's almost as if the end of the world wasn't hanging over them.

As the sun rose, most of the Vikings lay beside their dragons and took the chance to sleep, only a few stayed awake to keep watch on the ship. Below deck of the main ship, Stoick stayed awake to watch over Hicca. Toothless also seemed to be awake, but was curled up underneath Hicca's hammock, while his tail was wrapped around the leg of Stoick's stool. Stoick had pulled the small wooden seat over not long ago, so that he could sit beside her.

She looked so small.

He was almost afraid to touch her, for fear that she'd break under his large clumsy hand. She'd always been small, lacking in physical strength with hardly any muscles on her bones, but she was agile, quick and with a brilliant mind. She got that from her mother.

Now that he took the time to look at her, he realised just how similar Hicca and Valka were. There was a bit of him in Hicca, but it was mostly Val. Shining green eyes, and a beautiful smile that could brighten anyone's day. Hicca's auburn hair was from both of him and Valka, he often wondered if Hicca ever would tie it into two long braids like her mother had done. But looking at her hair's new shorter length, that wouldn't happen any time soon. One thing his wife and daughter also shared was a love of dragons.

As he thought that, the memories came flooding back.

/LINE BREAK/

Flash Back

"See, I told you so!" The young girl shouted, as she slammed the book down in front of the boy.

The impact of the heavy book on the wooden table made him jump slightly, "Okay, okay, you were right. Nadders are much faster than Nightmares." The boy sighed as he turned back to his food.

This scene was from 32 years ago. The two children were both 15 at the time.

The boy was quite large, with shaggy ginger hair and green eyes. He wore and greenish blue sleeveless tunic, with a thick leather belt and dark leggings and boots. He also wore a thick fur mantle over his shoulders and leather cuffs on his lower arms.

The girl had long copper hair woven into two thick braids down her back. Her eyes were also green like his, but unlike the boy, she was a quite small compared to the other teens on the island. She wore a yellowy green tunic with long sleeves bunched up at her elbows, the tunic was tucked into a brown leather skirt. She also had armoured shoulders pads, light brown leggings and boots.

The boy was Stoick Haddock, and the girl was Valka Hallarama, the top two students in dragon training.

"You need to know this stuff if you want to get better in training, I'm still beating you by a long shot." Valka lectured him.

Stoick rolled his eyes, "That's just because you keep doing all these weird tricks." Stoick argued. "Seriously, what was that thing you did with your hands? That dragon passed out right in front of you."

Stoick was the only one who knew that Valka used tricks in the arena. In truth, she didn't like killing dragons or any other living things, the sight of blood made her stomach turn fiercely. Stoick didn't like the idea of using trickery, but as long as Valka stayed safe he'd promised not to tell anyone.

"It's nothing, just a pressure point. I wish I could teach them to everyone, things would be so much better if we didn't have to kill the dragons."

"Not this again," Stoick sighed tiredly. "We have to kill the dragons, or they'll kill us. They're dangerous, you know that." He said sternly.

"But imagine what we could learn from them, maybe there's a reason they're attacking."

"They attack because they're hungry, what other explanation is there?"

The two sat quietly for a moment. They were good friends, but when it came to dragons, it was always something they disagreed on.

But then Valka gave a short laugh, "You know I'm right. You don't see it yet, but you will." She got up to leave and turned to him once more. "And make sure you read the book, it'll help you in the ring."

Stoick also smiled. "Whatever, book-worm."

Valka laughed louder as she made her way towards the entrance to the grand hall. "See you tomorrow, rock-head."

They weren't really insults, just nicknames. Stoick watched her leave and then he turned to the book and started lazily flicking through its pages. Valka was usually right about a lot of things, maybe it was female intuition, but when it came to dragons...

He never quite understood her, but that didn't mean he didn't love listening to her talk. She was so animated when talking about dragons, he eyes seemed brighter and she spoke so enthusiastically, it was fun to watch.

Stoick wondered if that was the moment he started to fall in love with Valka. Stoick's best friend often teased him about it, Alvin would constantly call them love-birds and say what a cute couple they were.

At 15, Alvin was around the same size as Stoick, though a little shorter and wider. He had shaggy black hair, blue eyes and crooked teeth. His tunic was dark brown and his leggings and boots were grey. He also wore armour on his shoulders, arms and legs.

Over the next few years, Stoick and Valka became more than just friends. Alvin still teased them constantly, saying he'd seen it coming a mile away, which he had. It was actually Alvin who had pushed Stoick to tell Valka how he really felt. Valka knew that Alvin and Stoick had been friends since they were little, and to her it looked as though they would be friends for many years to come.

But then things started to change.

When Stoick turned 20, he started his training to become the future chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe. Once his father passed away or once Stoick was married, the responsibilities would fall to him. He wasn't sure why exactly, but Alvin started acting differently after that. But at the same time, Stoick met Gobber.

Gobber was couple of years older than Stoick and a bit larger, he was the son of the tribe's blacksmith. He had shoulder length blond hair and dull green eyes. His tunic was a greyish green and was often stained with soot and grease from his work in the forge, his leggings were dark blue and his boots were stained black, he also wore a vest made of strong leather. It quickly became known that Gobber had this strange ability to calm those around him, and with Stoick's chiefdom looming over him, Gobber was a great friend to have.

But a few years later, a dragon attack changed everything.

Stoick had been 23 at the time, and it was his first real chance to prove himself as a chief. As his father ran to help fight off the dragons, he'd put Stoick in charge of protecting the storage building. Stoick commanded the Vikings to each and every building, and he'd charged the grand hall to Valka, Alvin and Gobber, he knew they could handle it.

They fought for what felt like hours, the dragons coming thick and fast. But thankfully they only ended up taking half a dozen sheep and a yak, they'd had worse raids. But just as the final dragons were leaving, Stoick heard a loud cry of pain from the grand hall. By the time he got close, he found Valka on the steps, he knees drawn to her chest and breathing deeply.

He'd seen her in this position before, after coming into contact with blood, it was her way of calming her stomach. "Val, are you okay?" Stoick asked worriedly.

Valka shook her head, "B-Blood..." Stoick looked her over trying to find an injury, but it wasn't herself she was referring to. "G...Gobber..."

Stoick followed her gaze up the steps towards the entrance to the grand hall, where a small crowd had formed. "Stay here," He told Valka. She nodded and watched as Stoick rushed up the steps and pushed his way through the crowd.

Gobber was half leaning against the side of the great hall, his father kneeling to his right, with another Viking to his left. The other Viking was wrapping a leather cord around Gobber's left arm... or at least... what remained of his left arm.

There was nothing after his elbow, just blood and jagged bone, no wonder Valka had looked so pale. The cord was tightened to prevent any more blood loss, then Gobber was carried away to the healer's hut. Stoick was shocked still for a little while, before he turned and rushed back to Valka.

"What happened? Where in Odin's name is Alvin?" He asked, only just realising that the other Viking was nowhere to be seen.

It's was then that Alvin returned. "Ah, Stoick there you are. Yer' missed a great fight, Ah' beat that dragon off the island single 'anded." He broke into a loud laughter.

Stoick was furious, Alvin had abandoned his friends to go off and fight a dragon on his own. But before Stoick could do anything, Valka leapt forward with fire in her eyes, she grabbed Alvin's tunic and yelled at him furiously. "Where were you!? You were supposed to stay with us! Gobber needed you to watch his back while I helped put out the fires, so where in Thor's name were you!?"

Stoick had never seen Valka this angry before, but it was understandable. He took a deep breath and walked over to Valka, he gently pulled her hands off of Alvin. Then Stoick turned to him, "Alvin, there will be consequences for your actions."

"What? Ah' just chased a dragon off our island, what are you gettin' so upset up about?" Alvin asked annoyed.

"You were supposed to stay with your group, you disobeyed a direct order." Stoick said sternly.

Alvin's expression turned from surprise into hatred as he locked eyes with Stoick, "Watch it, Stoick. Yer not chief yet."

Not wanting this to go any further, Valka gripped Stoick's arm and quickly started pulling him away. Alvin huffed and stormed off, while Valka and Stoick walked towards the healer's hut to check on Gobber.

Gobber ended up losing his lower left arm, but he was more concerned with his missing front tooth, fearing he'd swallowed it. He would be in pain for a long while, but he'd live. After a few days Gobber had a new wooden limb attached to his left arm, and a small stone where his tooth had been. But strangely, the experience hadn't dampened his cheery disposition, if anything, he was just excited about what kind of weapons he could equip to his new prosthetic.

It wasn't long after this that Gobber lost his right leg as well, but that still didn't stop him. He still insisted on fighting by Stoick's side and continuing his trade as a blacksmith, Stoick wanted to argue but he knew nothing he said would stop Gobber once he had his mind set on something. But every time Stoick looked at Gobber's arm, he couldn't help thinking about Alvin. Their relationship was never the same after the incident, safe to say they were no longer friends at least.

Alvin hadn't showed up to Stoick's chiefdom ceremony, or his and Valka's wedding. Stoick saw him every now and again, and they did talk a little, but it wasn't the same. Alvin seemed to be jealous of Stoicks and constantly spoke against him, it wasn't long before rumours started to spread, rumours that Alvin planned on challenging Stoick for the title of chief. But it never happened.

Stoick couldn't just forget their friendship, he decided to give Alvin another chance. He needed all the help he could get now anyway.

Valka was pregnant.

It was both terrifying and fascinating to watch Valka's body go through such changes, there were times when Stoick became a nervous wreck over her health. But she was tough, and despite the five month bulge she now sported, she still insisted on fighting alongside her husband. Again Stoick wanted to argue, but he knew nothing would change Val's mind once it was made up. He still insisted that she have a bodyguard at least, and since Gobber was busy fixing weapons in the forge, the responsibility fell to Alvin.

But during another dragon raid, Alvin allowed himself to get carried away once again.

Since he was chief now, Stoick had to watch over the entire village, he eventually lost sight of Valka and Alvin. This time, the raid was one of the worst they'd ever experienced. Most of their livestock had been taken and many houses were destroyed, there were also many injured. As the last dragon flew away into the distance, Stoick was shocked to see Alvin on the beach, yelling after the dragons like a madman.

"Get back 'ere you filthy beast! Is that the best you got!?" As Stoick got closer, Alvin gave a manic laugh before finally turning.

"Alvin, what are you doing here? Where's Val?" Stoick asked worriedly.

"Valka? She's... well... she's..."But Alvin didn't have an answer.

They both knew that Alvin had once again disobeyed orders, he had abandoned Valka to chase after dragons. Stoick would have beaten Alvin to a pulp then and there, if it wasn't for his desperate need to find his pregnant wife. Instead he turned and ran back to the village, telling as many people as he could that Valka was missing. He and Gobber searched the hardest, all around the village until they eventually came across a small ravine at the edge of the forest. At the bottom, they found Valka.

Her breathing was shaky and she was clawing at her stomach in pain, there was so much blood. Stoick quickly climbed down and wrapped his arms around her protectively, once they were out Stoick ran nonstop to their home while Gobber ran to find the healer.

Thankfully Valka survived. But she and Stoick lost their baby.

As it turned out, when the raid started, Alvin had been doing his job. He and Valka had fought back to back against the dragons, but then two Deadly Nadders showed up, and once again Alvin felt the overwhelming urge to prove himself. He had shoved Valka out of the way and chased after the two dragons, not even sparing her a glance back. Had he done so, he would have seen her fall a long way to the bottom of the ravine.

Needless to say, when news of this came to life, a shared feeling of grief spread through the village. The vote to banish Alvin had been unanimous, he was given the title of Treacherous and shipped to Outcast Island.

But even with Alvin gone, Valka and Stoick still suffered. The village tried to be there for them, but while Stoick tried to stay strong, Valka locked herself away in their bedroom. As often as he could manage, Stoick would bring her food and try to talk to her, she gave signs that she was alive but didn't leave the room or even open the door.

She felt so empty. The tiny life that had been growing inside of her for the past five months, had been ripped away in just a few painful second, leaving only a deep hole of despair. She had often imagined what the child would look like, would it be a girl or a boy? Would they look more like Stoick or her? Or maybe they'd be a perfect mix of the two of them. But no matter what they looked like, she would have loved them with all her heart. But now her heat was crushed and all her joy along with it, there was only darkness now. After so long of being locked away from view in that gloomy room, Valka considered going to Valhalla herself. Maybe there she could meet her child.

But then a knock sounded, and snapped her from her suicidal thoughts.

"Val? I brought you some food. I'm sorry I had to leave for a few hours." She heard a tray being set down outside the door, and then the heavy sound of Stoick sitting and leaning against the wall. "The whole village is asking about you, they miss you... I miss you..." He admitted quietly.

Valka's heart broke at the sound of her husband, tears starting to fall from her eyes. How could she be so selfish? She wasn't the only one suffering. Stoick had also lost their baby, and then she had separated herself from him as well. He must be so lonely. How could she have thought for a moment the dying was an acceptable idea? There were people here who needed her.

After a week of being closed off from the world, Valka finally opened the door.

Stoick had sat there in shock and just staring at her for a few seconds, before the two of them embraced tightly, refusing to let go. Their loss still hurt, but at least now they had each other again.

The village was so relieved to see Valka alive and well, almost everyone rushed over to her when she stepped outside, all of them asking how she was and telling her how glad they were to see her. The village had its ray of sunshine back.

Over the next 5 years, everything finally started to get back to normal. Then Valka fell pregnant again. This time however, she was much more careful, almost paranoid about doing anything to possibly harm the baby. But everything progressed as normal.

A small bump started to form, and with it Valka started developing morning sickness and fatigue. After five months, she felt the baby kick for the first time, of course the first thing she'd done was scream for Stoick to come feel. Stoick gently placed his large hand on the side of Valka's stomach, and when he felt the small vibrations of tiny feet, his heart jump with joy. But for a moment, there was a shared feeling of sadness between the two of them, as they remembered the first time they'd felt the tiny kicks of their baby. But then they looked at each other, silently promising that this time would be different.

During the next few months, Valka continued to get bigger and more uncomfortable, her moods started to swing wildly, from happy and cheerful one moment, to miserable and violent the next. Stoick could honestly say he'd never been more terrified in all his life.

And then the day of the birth came upon them, almost three weeks early.

Valka had just been visiting her sister, Cecilia, when it happened, a tightening in her stomach caused her breath to hitch, and a slight panic set in.

She had been rushed home, and Gothi and Phlegma had been summoned.

Stoick had been asked to wait outside, he could do nothing but wait as his wife wailed and pushed in the other room. For hours he waited, pacing back and forth, and praying to every god and goddess he could think of that his wife and child would be alright. He was thankful Gobber was there to keep him somewhat sane, and to stop him from breaking the door down.

Then a shrill cry sounded.

A baby's cry.

Gothi finally opened the door and allowed Stoick to enter. He quickly rushed in, but then stopped dead at the sight in front of him.

"It's okay. She's alright." Valka smiled softly and gestured for him to come closer.

Stoick couldn't speak. He slowly made his way over to where Valka lay, holding a bundled baby girl in her arms.

She was so small, Stoick could practically fit her in one hand. She was the most beautiful thing Stoick had ever seen, he almost cried.

Then it came time to name her. Had she been a boy, they would have called her Hiccup after Stoick's great grandfather, since she was so small. But for a girl...

/LINE BREAK/

Everyone gathered in the great hall and waited for the announcement. The baby was quite early, were the mother and child alright? And if they were, was the child a boy or a girl?

Then Stoick entered, and raised his fist to call silence. "My tribe... Both Valka and the child are well." A wave of relief washed over everyone, but then they held their breaths as Valka entered carrying a small bundle. "May I present, my daughter and heir... Hicca!"

A great cheer rang out, and everyone celebrated the birth of their heiress.

End Flash Back

/LINE BREAK/

Stoick was snapped out of his memories when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder, he hadn't even realised he'd fallen asleep.

He looked around quickly, and found Phlegma standing at his side. Toothless was still under Hicca's hammock, and was looking up at Stoick with large eyes. Stoick looked over to his daughter to find her still resting, she was still breathing but hadn't moved since he'd last laid eyes on her.

"Stoick?" Phlegma sounded concerned, "We've reached Berk."

Stoick nodded and stood slowly, he gently lifted Hicca into his arms with the blanket wrapped around her. She made a small groan, but didn't move anymore after that. Stoick then carried her off the ship and back to their home, Toothless at his heels the entire time.

**Everyone's finally back on Berk, but the fight is far from over. Let me know what you all think :) see you next time.**


	16. Chapter 16

**16****th**** Chapter. Hope you all in the USA enjoy How to Train Your Dragon 2 this weekend, unfortunately, since I live in England, I have to wait another month to see it :( Still, I'll be celebrating my birthday, so that's keep me going till the movie comes out :) Getting close to the climax now, can't wait :)**

"**Speaking"**

'_**Thoughts'**_

The Valhalla Crystal

Chapter 16: Awake

On Berserk Island, Loki had retreated and Dagur was in control again.

But the young chief had locked himself away inside his house. Unlike Skadi, Loki was a master of trickery and mind games , instead of simply speaking to Dagur through his mind, Loki was slowly starting to take control over Dagur's body. From the outside, it must have looked as though Dagur was having an argument with himself.

"Why did you let them escape!?" Dagur yelled at into the air.

Loki then took over to answer, Dagur's eyes glowing green and a calm smirk replaced the scowl on his face. "Why not? There's nothing they can do to stop my power, so why not let them panic for a little while."

Dagur's eyes stopped glowing as he took over again. "If we give them a chance, then they'll come up with a plan, Hicca is clever and sneaky, if there's even a chance they can defeat you-"

"Who do you think you're talking to mortal? I am Loki, god of tricks, and master of magic and fire. That former vessel of Skadi will be crushed under my foot."

"No. Not Hicca, you can kill all the others but not Hicca."

Loki poked around Dagur's mind for a few minutes, before he once again took control. "You love her, don't you?"

"What!? Don't be ridicules!" Dagur yelled.

"I'm not hearing 'no'," Loki noted with a small chuckle. "I can see into your mind remember, but maybe love is the wrong word. You're obsessed with her, you want to posses her-"

"I want her to kneel at my feet!" Loki had started the speech, but he let the control slip part way through and forced Dagur to finish the sentence. Dagur was shocked to realise just how much control Loki had over him.

"Do you understand now? I'm the one in control here. You seem to know a bit about the Valhalla Crystal, but you clearly don't know everything. My ability to change form was needed for the crystal, but my blood was taken by force. I never agreed to obey the holder of the crystal." Loki gave an evil grin.

Dagur didn't have an answer. He'd thought that gaining the crystal meant controlling the power of the gods, but the humans didn't have a choice over which god they were assigned to.

Dagur forgot that Loki could hear his thoughts, "Are you starting to understand now boy? Since I'm connected to the crystal, I was able to forced a link to it, then as soon as it transferred to you, I took over."

"Why? Why were you so eager to get to the crystal now of all time?"

"Skadi," Loki said simply. "I want to punish her, the same way you want to punish Hicca. That ice witch made a fool out of me, and has been causing me pain for centuries. This is possibly my only chance to get back at her, and the way to do that, is by targeting that human girl."

Dagur had to think of something, he was supposed to be in control. "I won't let you," Dagur snarled, but his brain was starting to panic. What could he do? But then Loki took it a step further, proving how much power he had over Dagur.

Dagur realised with fear that that his hand was moving, but it wasn't him who was controlling it. Dagur tried to get his hand back under control, but the possessed hand was suddenly at his throat, the force of it causing him to fall backwards onto the floor. It felt as though the god was really there, looming over him with a hand on his throat. The hand gave him a quick warning squeeze, "Are you going to start behaving now?"

Dagur could only lie there in shock.

"Now I'm going to do as I please, all I need you to do is lose consciousness for a while, while I kill that girl." The controlled hand tightened again, and this time it didn't let up as Dagur started having trouble breathing. He tried to lash out with his feet and claw at the hand, but there was no one else in the room for him to kick, and the hand chocking him was his own, it only caused him more pain to scratch at it. As Dagur's vision started to blur, Loki was able to take control of the other hand. With both hands now gripping Dagur's neck, the process sped up, Dagur's eyes role back into his head and he passed out.

With the mind now vacant, Loki took over completely. The god hated to admit it, but his body had been weakened after so many years bound to the boulder, he was only able to perform his magic yesterday because of the leftover energy from Skadi in the crystal. He was still far stronger than human, but he needed a body to control, and Dagur was his victim. Loki violated every inch of Dagur's body, had the boy been conscious, he would have been losing him mind at the sensation.

Once Loki was done, he opened his new eyes and sat up. From the outside, Dagur didn't look any different, but it was only a shell of the young chief. The longer Loki remained in Dagur's body, the more it would change into Loki's new form, but for now, no one would be able to tell the difference.

Loki stood and inspected his body, 'Hmm... youthful, strong, not too bright though. Still, could be worse.'

Just then there was a knock on the door. Loki made sure he was presentable and walked over to the door. The Viking on the other side was surprised that Dagur had answered, normally the young chief just yelled through the door.

"What is it?"

"S-Sorry to disturb you, sir. We've finally managed to gather the armada ships, but there's a lot of damage to them."

"When will they be repaired?"

The Viking was nervous about Dagur's reaction, and was shocked when a calm voice answered. "Um... T-Two days at most."

"Good, get to it then. Until they're repaired and ready to attack, no one is to disturb me, understand?"

"Yes, chief!" With that, the Viking ran off.

Loki closed the door, and locked it. He turned and looked down at his new hands. 'This body is strong, but let's see how it handles me power.' He reached out a hand and gestured to a wooden chair beside the table, he focused on it and suddenly clamped his hand into a tight fist. The chair was flown against the wall and shattered into pieces, Loki then looked down at his hand again, it was shaking slightly and covered in small burn marks. Well, at least it didn't rip apart.

He'd need to train this new body. He'd told the Hooligans he'd give them three days last night, and it would take two to prepare the ships. So that's how long he had to prepare.

He sat on the ground cross-legged and focussed his energy, making it run through the body's system. He'd start slow and then increase the power flow until the body was used to it, then he'd be ready to use his power against the former vessel of Skadi.

/LINE BREAK/

Back on Berk, everyone seemed to be preparing for the promised Ragnarok.

Whether that meant preparing to fight, or spending time for their loved ones, everyone was trying to keep busy. The other dragon riders were spending time with their families, only taking time away to look after Hicca. Gobber was keeping busy in the forge, working overtime to sharpen and repair axes, swords, hammers, arrows, crossbows, and shields. Stoick wanted to spend ever y moment with Hicca, but he had to take care of the village and make sure everyone was alright. Needless to say, they weren't giving up without a fight, but against a god... everyone wondered what they could do.

Most of them hoped that Hicca would think of a plan as usual, but right now she was still unconscious. Her friends and family were taking it in turns to watch over her as she slept, and Toothless was curled up at the bottom of her bed, keeping his large green eyes glued to his rider. It was already afternoon, Hicca had been out for 18 hours. They were honestly worried that she wouldn't wake up at all.

Astrid was watching over her now. She still had bandages all over her, even across her nose and over her cheeks. She and Ruffnut had helped Phlegma remove Hicca's clothes, they had seen most of the blood and bruises, Ruff had almost thrown up at the sight of them. As Phlegma applied alcohol to the scratches, Hicca's body had twitched and struggled on the hammock, even Astrid had to look away as they held her down. It had been hell for Hicca, and an test for all of them, but it was far from over.

Astrid was honestly scared, but she felt like she couldn't talk to anyone. She normally confided in Hicca, since she was the only person she could trust to really keep her mouth shut. Astrid wondered something...

"Hicca? Can you hear me?" Obviously there was no response. 'This is stupid...' she thought with a sigh. But a small part of her wanted to talk anyway, even if Hicca couldn't respond, talking with her around seemed to calm Astrid.

She sighed again and moved her chair a little closer. "Okay... Um... I don't even know what to say. Hicca, I know you probably can't hear me, but you need to know... I was really scared." Astrid's shoulder slumped and she leaned forward in her chair. "We had no idea where you were, and then when we found out that Dagur had you... I was really worried. I had all these thoughts running through my head about what Dagur could be doing to you. But then Snotlout found you, and we all thought everything was going to be okay. But..."

Astrid ran her hands over her face as she thought about everything that happened after that. "It all happened so fast... You turned into Skadi, Dagur defeated her, then he became Loki... and then he kicked you into the ship... Then we finally saw what he'd done to you, and you weren't moving at all. I thought... I thought you were dead..." Astrid was starting to break down.

"Hicca... You are my best friend. You have no idea how much you've helped me over the last few years, and you've saved me countless times. Before any of this happened, before the dragons... I didn't have anyone. My parents trained me to be the perfect Viking, to be the strong, never cry and fight for the tribe... I didn't feel close to them, and I certainly didn't have any friends. I was so cold to everyone, some were actually afraid of me, Snotlout was the only one who ever tried talking to me, and that was only to flirt." She gave a slight chuckle.

"But you changed everything. You treated me like a real person, and you actually tried to be friends with me. I am sorry for the way I treated you during dragon training, I just didn't know how to react to you... and then you showed me the dragon." Astrid chuckled again as she remembered her first ever dragon ride, she had been absolutely terrified and screamed like a banshee as Toothless looped and dived. "I was terrified, but you were so brave. You proved to be a better Viking than I could ever hope to be. You took on the Queen and saved everyone, and you made us all realise we were wrong about you. You risk so much for us, and yet you never ask anything in return..." Astrid realised she was crying again.

"We'll protect you as long as it takes, so just..." She took a shaking breath as tears started running down her face. "Just please... don't die..."

Astrid was truly crying now, her shoulders shaking and she tried to calm herself. Just as she finally calmed down, and the room became silent again, a small voice could be heard

"... m' not going anywhere..."

Astrid head shot up. Hicca was still lying in the bed, but her head was turned towards Astrid. Her emerald eyes were mostly open, and a small smile started to form on her lips.

/LINE BREAK/

When Stoick came home that night, he heard a loud crying from upstairs. He rushed upstairs and was utter relieved to see his conscious daughter being hugged tightly by her friend, who was still crying tears of happiness, and the large dragon sitting up with his tail wagging happily.

Everyone was relieved to hear that Hicca was awake, and soon Gobber and the other dragon rider were at the Hooligan household to see her. Hicca was relieved to see that everyone was alright, but then the air grew serious as she was told the situation.

"You're sure it was Loki?" She asked sitting up in bed.

"Yeah, we compared him to the description in the Norse mythology book, it was a match." Fishlegs answered as he held said book in his hand.

Hicca gave a sigh and leaned back, unintentionally bumping one of the scratched on her back on the bed, she winced a little and tried not to let the others know. "We need to do some research, if the gods were able to defeat Loki before, then maybe we can do the same. Not only that, but we need to think of a plan in case Dagur is in command instead. It's very possible he'll take the opportunity to gloat, so we need to use the element of surprise and knock him out before he can summon the god."

"That's a great plan lassie, but you still need t' take in easy, you've only just woken up." Gobber pointed out.

"Agreed, Dagur gave us a deadline of two and a half days from now, we can rest tonight and then come up with a plan tomorrow when we're well rested. That goes double for you Hicca." Stoick said in a calm but stern voice.

"I'm fine, really." Hicca tried to reassure them, but even Toothless wasn't buying it.

"'You realise we don't believe you one bit, right?" Snotlout said as he leaned on the doorway.

Hicca was about to respond, but she knew it was pointless. She was wearing a new pale green tunic over her bandages, but it couldn't hide the mess of her body, and as she shifted, it also became clear she was shivering slightly. Gobber left to go get Phlegma and Gothi, while everyone else said goodnight to Hicca and went back to their own homes.

When Phlegma and Gothi arrived, they were also pleased to see that Hicca was alright. Gothi took her bag of herbs over to the foot of Hicca's bed, and started mixing salves for the bruises and burns, while Phlegma took a seat next to Hicca and started undoing her bandages. Stoick stayed for the most part, but Gothi gestured for him to leave when they were about to remove Hicca's tunic.

Once Stoick left the room, Hicca became slightly more reluctant. She turned her head away as her chest, back and legs were inspected, she felt embarrassed, despite Phlegma's calming words. Hicca was able to wash herself with minimal help from Phlegma, the salves were then applied to the wounds and clean bandages were wrapped. Hicca felt more refreshed and relaxed after that, and she felt more comfortable once her tunic was back on. But then it came time for another inspection.

"Hicca, we still need to inspect your lower regions," Phlegma told her, trying to keep her voice calm.

"I-I'm sorry?" She asked nervously.

"The marks on your body suggest that Dagur tried to rape you, you father asked me to at least wait until you were awake before I proceeded any further."

"Th-There's really no need, Dagur didn't get that far, I swear." Without realizing it, Hicca started holding her hands in front of her as some kind of protection.

"I believe you. But you were also unconscious for some amount of time weren't you?"

"Um... Yeah. Dagur did knock me out at one point."

"Can you honestly say that he didn't do anything during that time?"

Hicca didn't have an answer.

It was a horrible thought, and she had been so focused on what Dagur had been doing at the time, she didn't even consider what he could have done while she was unconscious.

"W... What do I need to do?" Hicca asked after a little while.

"Just lie back and spread you're legs, I'll be as gentle as I can."

Gothi moved to the head of the bed and rearranged the pillow so that Hicca could lie down, once she was lying on her back, the elderly woman offered out her hand to Hicca with a caring smile. Hicca realised that Gothi was offering to hold her hand if she needed it, she gave her own shaky smile, and placed her hand in the older woman's.

Then Phlegma started her examination. She pushed Hicca's tunic up passed her hips, and gently massaged the areas around Hicca's mound and upper thighs, looking for any for any sigh of bruising, causing Hicca to tighten he grip on Gothi's hand slightly. She then checked around the labia, before slowly slipping a finger inside to check the hymen, Hicca's hips jerk and she made a noise of protest. But thankfully Phlegma was able to finish her examine, and was relieved to find that her hymen was still intact.

She had been sexually assaulted, but she hadn't been raped.

Phlegma allowed Hicca to close her legs and pulled her tunic back over her hips, Gothi patted the girls hand to comfort her. Hicca was shaking slightly, but for the most part, she was just relieved that Dagur hadn't done anything without her knowledge.

/LINE BREAK/

Phlegma and Gothi left some salve and bandages for Hicca and then left her to sleep, they told her father the good news as they left, and he thanked them before wishing them good night.

Hicca lay in her bed on her side, Toothless had crawled in next to her to keep her warm, she reached out a hand to stroke his scaly head. He looked up at her with large eyes, and made a low rumble in his throat, he was trying to ask if she was okay.

Hicca was about to give her usual answer, but something stopped her. "I'm scared, bud." She said quietly, and Toothless made low grumble in concern. "Dagur has the crystal, and now he has Loki on his side. But there's something else..." Hicca paused and thought for a moment. "I don't think Loki will obey Dagur completely. All of the old text's refer to Loki as a trickster with control over fire, but unlike the other gods, his powerful magic isn't limited to a single element. If Loki disobeys Dagur and starts acting on his own, then there's no way of knowing exactly what he's going to do."

The two were quiet for a moment, but Toothless soon broke the silence by giving Hicca a quick lick on her cheek.

"Eek! Toothless!" Hicca couldn't help but laugh as she wiped away the slobber from her cheek. Toothless gave quiet bark before snuggling down to sleep, Hicca realise he was trying to tell her to get some sleep. She'd been unconscious for the entire day but she suddenly felt tired, she followed Toothless's lead and lay her head against the pillow. That night, Hicca got her first good night's sleep in days.

**Let me know what you all think :) **


	17. Chapter 17

**17****th**** Chapter, almost at 30 reviews, can you believe it :) Getting close to the climax now, can't wait :)**

"**Speaking"**

'_**Thoughts'**_

The Valhalla Crystal

Chapter 17: Varan Island

That night, Hicca had a dream.

She was standing on a beach, but it wasn't one she'd ever seen before. Hicca started looking round the beach but as she turned, her eyes could only widen at the person in front of her.

It was Skadi.

"Skadi! Is it really you!? Are you alright!? I thought you were-" Hicca was relieved to see Skadi unharmed, but the goddess held up her hand to stop the girl's frantic questions. It was then that Hicca really looked at Skadi, her eyes weren't glowing and she looked slightly sad, Hicca could also see right through her, as if she were a ghost. It was obvious that they were no longer connected. Skadi was probably using most of her strength to create a link to Hicca, there wasn't enough energy left for her to speak or make herself more visible.

But she was still here, which means she was trying to tell Hicca something.

"Skadi, I don't know what to do. Dagur and Loki will be at our shores in 3 days, please... tell me what I should do?"

Skadi turned and pointed up the beach to a grassy plain. Hicca was then able to get a better look at her surroundings, the island was small, no mountains and a handful of trees in a wide circle. In the centre of the tree ring was a grand looking stone statue, the stone had been expertly chiselled into the shape of tree dragons locked in combat, just in front of the stone dragons was a headstone. This was a grave. But who did the grand grave belong to?

Hicca stepped closer, she knelt in front of the headstone and read ruins on the stone.

'In memory of the very first Viking. Varan the Brave'

Hicca fell back with a gasp. This was Varan Island, the final resting place of Varan the Brave. Slowly Hicca turned back to the goddess, "Skadi... Do you need me to come to this island?" Skadi nodded. "Then what? What do I do here?"

Skadi slowly turned towards the grave and looked up at the stone dragons, then she did something unexpected. Hicca watched as Skadi closed her eyes and bowed her head, she brought her hands together in front of her, she was... praying.

"Pray? But who-" But before Hicca could ask, there was a blinding light and Hicca was thrown backwards, and out of the dream.

/LINE BREAK/

The first thing Hicca became aware of was a large dragon head resting on her stomach. As Hicca became more aware of her surroundings, it became obvious that Toothless must have also been having a weird dream last night. He was lying half-on half-off the bed, with one of his wings stretched wide across the room, and his head lying on Hicca's stomach with his tongue hanging out. He looked like a lazing dog, but Hicca knew how to wake him.

"Toothless? Do you want to go flying?" She said it quietly, but Toothless's eye's shot open. He was instantly awake at the promise of a flight.

Hicca knew her father was already worried about her, so unlike the other times she gone out early for a flight, she wrote a note for her father saying she'd be back in a little while. She left the note on her bedroom door in case he came to check on her, then she and Toothless set off.

/LINE BREAK/

In the sky over Berk, Hicca and Toothless were flying in gentle circles over the forest. Unlike their previous flights, this was slow and scenic, instead of an acrobatic adrenaline rush to wake themselves up. The last time they'd flown was before Hicca went missing, the flight where they'd spotted the Berserker ship. Hicca took the time to think back everything that'd happened and everything she'd learnt.

The day she'd found the map amongst some old pottery, she had no clue it would lead to her fusing with a god, Toothless being poisoned, Dagur kidnapping her, being tortured and almost rapped, and now her tribe being in danger. The whole reason Dagur had gotten involved, was because he knew Hicca could decipher the clues, if Hicca had just thrown the map away to begin with, then none of this would have happened. But she couldn't change any of that now. She had to focus on a plan.

If only Skadi was still here, at least with a god on their side, they would have a fighting chance. As she thought of the goddess, she suddenly remembered the dream last night. How on earth had she forgotten about it?

But one thing was clear. She had to get to Varan Island.

She turned Toothless around and the two started heading back towards their home.

/LINE BREAK/

Stoick slept well last night, he was still slightly on edge, but having his daughter back where she belonged, made him much more relaxed.

As he exited his room, he was about to go upstairs to check on Hicca, but some rustling from down stairs made him turn. He found his daughter and her dragon at the main table, a handful maps scattered around them, Hicca seemed to be searching over each and every one of them, looking for something

"Hicca? What are you doing?" Stoick asked curiously.

"I had a dream last night, it was a message from Skadi."

That got Stoicks attention, he quickly made his way down the remaining steps and stood next to Hicca. "What happened? What did she say?"

"She could say anything, we're not connected anymore, so it must have taken a lot of power to just to form a link into my dreams. But she was able to communicate some things."

"Like what?"

"Varan Island," Hicca answered as she finally found said Island on the map. "If I can get there, then I might be able to call on Skadi again."

Stoick looked over her shoulder at the small island in the centre of the map. Varan island was at the very heart of the archipelago, and the 7 main tribes were on the largest islands surrounding the sacred grave. "You think something's there?"

"I don't know, but there might be a way for me to contact Skadi."

"But why there of all places?" Stoick wondered aloud.

"Well... Varan was the first person to use the Valhalla Crystal, maybe there's something about his final resting place that gives the island a stronger connection to the gods." Hicca thought for a little while longer and studied the map, before making her decision. "It'll take a day to fly there, I have to get going now."

Hicca rolled up the map and grabbed her satchel from the chair, but as she started heading towards the door, Stoick was suddenly in front of her, blocking her path. "Whoa, wait a second. Just where do you think you're going all of a sudden?" He said in an almost stereotypical fatherly tone.

"If there's a chance I can get in contact with Skadi, then I have to try," Hicca argued.

"Not without a plan," Her father said sternly. He had only just gotten her back, he wasn't about to just let her go without knowing exactly what was going on. "What are you going to do when you get to the island?"

Hicca knew the answer, but that didn't stop it from sounding any less vague. "Pray."

Needless to say, Stoick was utterly confused. "Pray? You honestly think praying will stop Loki!?"

"That's what Skadi told me to do, if there's even a chance it'll help us fight Dagur, then I plan on taking it. I'm not giving up," Hicca wasn't sure when she started raising her voice, she was just desperate to get to Skadi. "Skadi wouldn't have contacted me for no reason, I trust her, and I need her help if we're going to take Dagur down. I'm not going to let him get away with everything he's done, not just to me, but defeating Skadi, and threatening our tribe as well."

Stoick was a little concerned about Hicca sudden outburst, she didn't seem to be acting like herself. But given everything she's been though, it was understandable. He took a breath before choosing his words. "If you really believe that going to this island can help our chances against Dagur and his god, then I want you to at least take the other dragon riders with you. The rest of us will hold Dagur off as long as possible until you return."

He knew that against her determination, there was nothing he could do to stop her. He stepped aside to allow Toothless and Hicca to start heading towards the door again, but as Hicca passed him, Stoick placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just be careful, you don't know what's on that island. Also, if something goes wrong... then you and the other riders need to forget about us, and get as far away from Berk as you can."

"What!? No, I-"

"Hicca!" Stoick yelled to get her attention. "I don't want you getting hurt anymore. Promise me, if something goes wrong and you can't get a hold of Skadi, then you and the other dragon riders need to get somewhere safe."

The heavy conversation was silence for a while, even Toothless stood back and looked nervously between the two humans.

"That's not a promise I can make."

"Hicca, please-"

"This isn't just about us," Hicca interrupted. "If we don't stop Dagur and Loki here, then Ragnarok won't just fall on us, the entire archipelago, and even the lands beyond, will all be at risk. I don't want any more people get hurt."

Stoicks eyes started to widen slowly. Even after everything she'd been through, she wasn't just fighting for herself. By the look on her face, Stoick new she would succeed, his still young daughter... really would save everyone. Stoick couldn't be more proud and thankfully.

He pulled his daughter into a tight hug and wished her luck, then patted Toothless on the head and shared a look, Toothless was promising to keep her safe. Hicca and Toothless were just about to run out the door to find the other teens, when she suddenly thought of something. She ran back upstairs and grabbed the fur jacket Snotlout had given her, she hadn't gotten the chance to give it back to him last time he was here, she tucked it into her satchel and set off with Toothless.

/LINE BREAK/

Since her cousin's house was closest, Hicca decided to start there.

She knocked on the door and soon her aunt Cecilia answered. She was quite a plump woman with light brown hair tied into a tight bun, she was very sweet, but could also be very stubborn. She was Valka's older sister, and often visited Hicca after Val disappeared, she was one of the few people who didn't treat Hicca as an outcast when she was younger.

"Hicca, good morning dear." Despite the looming Ragnarok, Cecilia greeted Hicca with a smile, and the baby nightmare on her shoulders also gave a chirp in greeting.

"Good morning aunty, is Snotlout up yet?"

"I doubt it, if his dragon is still asleep then he is as well, you know how lazy my boy is." Although she sounded annoyed, she also said it with a smile, as she gestured to the side of the building towards a small shed.

Hicca looked around the side of the building and saw Hookfang lazing on his side, almost taking up the entire space of the shed, smoke pluming from his nostrils every now and then as he snored.

"I've already tried waking Snotlout up, you're welcome to give it a go if you think you can do it." Cecilia stepped to the side and allowed Hicca to entre.

"I'll see what I can do," Hicca said and started trudging up the stairs as Toothless waited outside for her.

"By the way..." Hicca stopped on the stairs and turned back to aunt, she looked a little worried. "How are you feeling today?"

Hicca knew she was being subtle, and it was very sweet of her to worry. Hicca decided to be honest with her aunt, "I'm trying not to think about everything that's happened, right now I'm just focusing on the mission to defeat Dagur, which is why I'm gathering the riders."

Cecilia gave her a small nod, and Hicca carried on up the stairs to her cousin's room.

/LINE BREAK/

Snotlout wasn't happy about being woken up, but the knock on the door was different to either of his parents. He was barely awake, but soon recognised Hicca's voice.

"Snotlout, are you awake?"

He gave a groan and rolled over, he was still tired, but that wasn't the only reason he didn't want to answer. He honestly felt a little awkward around Hicca.

For years he'd bullied and teased her for being a weak little girl, and most people agreed with him, there were even those who thought Snotlout would become the next chief instead of her. But then Hicca had changed. She was still small, sarcastic and could barely lift a sword, but then she suddenly become confident and courageous. She became the best dragon trainer and a brave Viking, and someone worthy of being chief. He wasn't sure when it happened... but she surpassed him.

He was still stronger, but Hicca was intelligent, brave, understanding, protective, respectful and open minded, and with the views of the people changing, everyone realised just how wrong they'd been. Snotlout realised it as well, but he was stubborn and would never admit it to Hicca, he instead took every opportunity to prove he was still stronger than her. But just like everything else... she now surpassed him in strength as well.

He had been shaken to his core when he thought about everything Hicca had experienced, if he had been in her position, he would have been a complete wreck. But Hicca was keeping her head, and was focused on stopping Dagur. Snotlout knew that he wouldn't be able to do that keep going like Hicca, it really was unbelievable how she was able to keep going.

But now Snotlout wasn't sure what to do. She had truly proven herself, and there was nothing more he could tease her about. But was he supposed to just obey her every word now? Or maybe treat her as his true superior? He hated both of those options, and he had a feeling Hicca would as well. Ever since the start of this whole ordeal, the one thing Hicca had wanted, was for everything to go back to normal, so maybe that's what he should do. So he closed his eyes, completely ignored her, and went back to sleep.

A little while later, he was woken with bang as Hicca threw his helmet at him, at least she was careful with the horns.

"What was that for!?" He yelled groggily.

"It was the only thing I could think of," she said with a small smile.

"What are you doing here anyway?" He asked. He placed his helmet on top of his shaggy hair, and finally turned to look at her.

Her hair was still short and ragged, and for some reason her eyes looked much older, not as shiny as they normally looked, she also had a couple of bandages wrapped across her nose. Aside from that, she wore her normal clothes, and stood with her hands on her hips. Her smile faded into a serious look, "We have a mission." That got his attention, he quickly turned to face her, "We might have a way of defeating Dagur, but it's all the way on Varan Island."

"Varan Island, but that's ages away!"

"That's why we need to gather the other riders and get moving," Hicca finished as she started moving towards the door.

Snotlout quickly swung his legs out of the bed and put his boots on, but as he reached for the bed post, where he usually kept his jacket, he found Hicca holding it out for him instead.

"I didn't get a chance to thank you yet," She said as he took his jacket from her. "If it wasn't for you, I'd probably still be stuck in that dungeon, so... thank you."

Hicca and Snotlout both blushed at the awkward situation, "Well... You know... We're family, so... you're welcome."

Hicca smiled and exited the room, Snotlout followed close behind as they made their way down stairs.

"Oh, so are still alive." Cecilia said sarcastically as the two reached the bottom of the stairs, causing Hicca to give a small giggle, Snotlout just gave a grumble in return.

"Thanks for your help, aunty." Hicca gave her aunt a smile, before walking out o find Toothless, Snotlout following to see Hookfang. As they walked round the side of the house to the shed, it seemed that Toothless had been successful in waking the large Nightmare, although they weren't sure why Hookfang was covered in hay.

They then split up, while Hicca went to find Fishlegs and Astrid, Snotlout went to get Ruffnut and Tuffnut. When they then all met up with their dragons in the plaza, Hicca unfurled the map, she found Varan Island and pointed to it.

"This is where we're heading."

Fishlegs was the first to read the name, "But isn't that-"

Ruff and Tuff finished, "Varan Island!" The twins almost fell over each other, both trying to get a better look at the map.

"Skadi said he was the first ever Viking."

"I bet he's really strong."

"Do you think we can meet him?"

Hicca gave a small sigh and Tuffnut's last comment, "I doubt it, it's his grave we're going to."

"Why? What are we going to find there?" Astrid asked.

"I had a vision from Skadi, she wasn't able to tell me much, but she made it clear that we need to go there." Hicca said as she rolled up the map and stuffed it into her satchel.

"Did she say what to do once we got there?" Snotlout asked, already sitting on top of Hookfang.

Hicca paused for a moment, "She did... but she wasn't able to tell me everything. But it'll take an entire day to fly there, so we need to leave now, we'll have to deal with it when we land on the island."

With that, the dragon riders mounted up and took off.

In a day's time, they would have to reach Varan Island. The day after that they'd fly back, and at sun rise the next day, Loki would be at their shores.

**Now on their way to Varan Island, but will they get there alright, and what will happen when they reach the island. Find out next time, let me know what you think :) **


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